The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko
by FicMaster1o6
Summary: KXK - Secretly, I sometimes hated being a Quarian. We created the Geth for Keelah's Sake! But then I remember Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko, a Chakran. The last of his kind. The one who created the Reapers... God-like Naruto, though he rarely uses his full power. Eventual NarutoXTali. Established FemShepXGarrus
1. Fall of an Empire, Birth of a Cycle

KrossoverXKing presents:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a _Mass Effect_ and _Naruto_ crossover

BTW: I don't own either one

Chapter 1: Fall of an Empire; Birth of a Cycle

-X-

It had been eighty years since Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke had recreated Arashi no Kuni, the country which had played host to Amegakure, into Chouwa no Kuni.

About five years ago, Ino had sensed a disturbance farther than anyone had ever been, high above the clouds, even past the moon which housed the Jubi and their far off attempt at terraforming Aeia. And the threat this entity posed was far greater than any before in terms of pure malevolence. All agreed that they needed to determine what – if any – steps they needed to take to ensure their safety. The creatures searching for them either enthralled or killed every race they found, and the Chakrans had proven they could not be controlled.

"If it's any consolation, they don't seem to know exactly where we are," Yamanaka Ino, their Spiritual Diviner, had said after they had convened in Oversight Tower, the central and tallest tower in Chouwa no Kuni. The blonde wore a simple yet elegant lengthy white kimono with sakura petals along the right side in homage to her late friend, while a pale purple obi finished the priestess' outfit.

As a Diviner, Ino's thoughts were focused skyward or, more specifically, star-ward. Her duty was to study how the movements of stars, planets, and a plethora of other astral objects affected not only each other, but their relationship with Shinobi (for lack of a better term) and the many factors of Ninshuu.

Hyuuga Hanabi, the Head of Elemental Harmony, nodded along with the blonde priestess' words. "It's not Gakure they are specifically targeting... Simply put, they are looking throughout the entire Nebulae to find us. If they knew exactly where we were, their disturbance of our ninshuu would be much greater."

The brunette's job was to determine and catalogue how different factors either disrupted or enhanced a Shinobi's connection with their inner chakras, as well as their resonance with the chakras around them. To help with this, many devices were on her arms, covered by a loose lavender knee-length kimono. The yin-yang symbol rested firmly between her shoulder blades.

"We can't let the public know; there would be riots in the streets," Sabaku no Gaara, Head of Village Security, added. "Yes, we should determine what steps we need to take to ensure our safety, but the civilians, and the Shinobi, _cannot_ know. Not until we know..."

The red-head was simply responsible for defending the peace of the Village of Harmony. Whether the threats were within the walls or just outside them didn't matter, how he handled it was up to his discretion.

Sarutobi Konohamaru, the Head of Elemental Security, spoke up next. "And this should stay between us. Don't even tell the Gotei 9. Their fear of the unknown would disrupt their chakra flow. Better for them to have an enemy to focus on, one that they can _see_ , rather than some mysterious force beyond our sphere of influence."

Konohamaru's job was to ensure the elements themselves were being treated properly. This included such things as using water properly and, more importantly, preventing emotions such as fear as much as possible in order to not affect Senjutsu in such a negative way. Each branch of the Gotei 9 focused on a specific aspect. For example, the 2nd Division focused on the element of Fire, while the 9th Division focused on emotions such as fear, hatred, and vengeance. His outfit was similar to what Naruto wore at 16, though colored forest green and navy blue and sporting a three-foot-long blue scarf.

Uchiha Sarada – Sasuke's daughter and the Head of Inner Peace – nodded along with Konohamaru. Her outfit was her mother's as a Chunin, colored like her father's as a Genin. The difference was the fact that the circles of the Haruno Clan were replaced by the swirls of the Uzumaki. "It's only been 15 years since the 6th War… People are still on edge. _When promoting peace, prepare for war…_ A significant enough trigger, and it's possible this will _end_ the same way as the 6th War." Sarada worked closely with Gaara, her Sharingan discerning auras, and therefore intentions. She could see the nervousness and distrust most still held for each other.

Aburame Shino, the Lead Strategist, steepled his fingers, obscuring the bottom half of his face moreso than his grey trench coat. "Given their current course, what time frame are we looking at. Longer is, obviously, better. Also, a more thorough anatomy of the enemy would be benificial."

Taking the Aburame's cue, Ino placed her hands in her lap, assuming a pose similar to her former teammate Shikamaru. "Sasuke," she said simply, and her husband stood and placed his hand on top of her head, his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Eye of Kaguya working in tandem to watch for any discrepancies in her control. At the same time, Hanabi assumed the same pose in front of Ino, their knees touching. Naruto did the same as Sasuke to his own wife, his Rinnegan also vigilant.

The jutsu had originally been used as a sensor for less-than-noble intentions in the Elemental Nations. Ino sensed it, Hanabi pin-pointed it, Naruto used his perfected Hiraishin, while Sasuke and any reinforcements came after he placed the seal for the original Hiraishin. This time, however, Naruto and Sasuke were focusing their wives' jutsu to see farther than they had ever tried.

Hanabi used Ino's sense to focus her attention, and Naruto's Rinnegan to hone her Byakugan into as fine a cone as possible. Even Sasuke's Sharingan would be hard-pressed to differentiate it from a simple line had it been visible, though for now it was tasked with narrowing the brunette's search.

After a few tense minutes of simply adding more chakra to increase her vision's range, Hanabi saw... something. Even at the edge of their star cluster, the end of her visual cone was no wider than the wheel of a small cart. Converting some of her chakra to its water nature to give herself a panoramic view, what she saw made her gasp.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino, who were linked to Hanabi, also saw what she saw. Naruto and Sasuke tensed, a barely noticeable reaction for non-shinobi, instinctively knowing that this threat was far greater than that of Uchiha Madara. Ino, however, wasn't as adept at hiding sudden strong emotions, and gasped as audibly as Hanabi.

Nevertheless, their teachings of Ninshuu focused on practicing diplomacy before anything else, so despite their misgivings, Naruto and Sasuke wordlessly decided to take the long trip and, should something happen, they would simply Hiraishin away and prepare for the worst.

"What's wrong, Nii-san?" Konohamaru asked his long-time mentor, obviously noticing the tenseness of his Sensei. Even after a century of teaching, Naruto always found something new for the former Nanadaime Hokage to learn.

"Kono," the blonde hissed, a clenched fist held by his still kneeling wife, "what is our fastest spaceship?"

"The _Kokuo_ -class," Shino replied before Konohamaru could answer. "They are the only ships equipped to handle both _Jikakuan_ and _Jinton_ chakras as of right now. They finished production right before this meeting was called."

"And does one have a seal yet?" Naruto asked. One of the first rules that Naruto and Sasuke decided on was that any moving vehicle and any building in Chouwa no Kuni was to be equipped with a _Hiraishin_ seal somewhere on or in it.

In the beginning, when crime still existed enough for there to be gangs, they would cut the seal out of the building's wall, but not destroy it since Naruto would immediately feel that. Naruto didn't necessarily need the seal, it just took the risk out of him ending up halfway in a wall. On non-urban battlefields this wasn't possible since he could feel the nature chakra in trees and rock formations, but steel, glass, concrete, and bricks were processed, effectively killing the chakra in them.

This was why most buildings in Chouwa no Kuni were cut out of unprocessed mineral blocks, the most common being granite or marble. Chakra Rods were then used to not only anchor the building to the ground, but also help with the circulation of nature chakra. Basic amenities such as heating, cooling, running water, and electricity were all taken care of with _Fuinjutsu_ powered by nature chakra.

Occasionally, Naruto would use the _Hiraishin_ seal to either check the seals' history(distance traveled as well as if they were used by anyone else), or to cut down on the time it took for him to meditate and find a new location.

"It does," Konohamaru said. "Had 'em stitch it in the seat covers," he added proudly.

Naruto smiled at his long-time protege as he and Sasuke stood apart from the others. In some ways – most notably the Summoning Contract, the young-looking Sarutobi had unquestionably surpassed him. After the death of Gamakichi at the hands of Kaguya, Naruto and the Toads had had a falling out due to the blonde's inability to gather Nature chakra because of his tumultuous emotions, and the Toads – most notably Ma, Pa, and Gamaken – demoting him due to this. After all, what kind of Gama Sennin couldn't perform Senjutsu?

He could now, but the damage was done, and Naruto's name was burned from the scroll.

"Very good, Kono," the blonde said genuinely. "We'll need all the help we can get if we cannot settle this peacefully... You've come far since you first came tripping into Jiji's office."

Konohamaru huffed in indignation. " _You_ tripped me, Naruto-nii," he grumbled, though a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. For his part, Naruto waved his protege away as he focused on the N.D.F.(Ninjato Defense Fleet) _Kokuo_.

Gakure, the Chakrans' home planet, was an idyllic garden world ever since the end of the 6th Shinobi World War. They, especially those who lived in Chouwa pre-Nation disbandment, had experienced a period of peace unlike any before, considering their status as a warrior race. However, they had known about the creatures they were about to meet for almost as long, and created Ninjato as a failsafe in case talks went south, with them or any other race.

Naruto and Sasuke wished to see peace for as long as they lived, and hopefully after, and to end the cycle of hatred. They could do neither if they were dead or slaves.

"Yare, yare... Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Ino and Hanabi, knowing what their husbands were planning, stood up and kissed Sasuke and Naruto, respectively.

"I love you," Ino said sincerely, holding Sasuke's head so he looked into her eyes.

"Come back to me," Hanabi said, mirroring the blonde with her own husband and finishing her thought.

"I love you, too/Promise of a lifetime," the two lifelong friends replied.

 _krrrrmmmmm..._

And with a sound like rolling thunder and a flash like lightening, Naruto and Sasuke were gone, preparing for their encounter with the beings who sought them out. From what their observations of the wider galaxy had revealed, the creatures had named themselves Leviathans, and either controlled new sentient races they found, or exterminated the ones they couldn't.

It was by pure chance that the Chakrans hadn't been discovered yet; Kaguya, the Gas Giant between them and their sun Amaterasu, constantly radiated chakra and hid not only their solar system, but the entire Rosetta Nebula from all but visual observation.

"Their diplomatic skills are well above average," Shino supplied, trying to placate the two women. "At the very least, they will return."

"Their bond will carry them through this ordeal," Garra said in as compassionate a voice he could muster. "We must simply wait for them."

"Don't count out Tou-san and Sensei just yet, Kono-koi," Sarada teased her husband. After all, she, Hanabi, and Konohamaru had been a Genin squad under Naruto's tutelage.

Then all eyes turned to Konohamaru, who had made his way over to the South Window, tracking the _Kokuo_ 's chakra-laced trail against the starry night sky. The ring-shaped Chakra Propulsion System was glowing brighter and spinning faster than it was ever designed to; the perks of having one teammate with a Sharingan and the other with the chakra capacity to rival all the Biju combined, most assumed.

"...just gotta wait for 'em..."

A clenched fist at his side raised, ready to strike at whatever next caught his ire. However, with great difficulty, his fingers splayed, resting on the cool glass. "Make it back, Nii-chan..."

Naruto and Sasuke would not be back for seven years... And in those seven years, many new constructs were envisioned, such as the Geranium and the Galactic Chakra Transference Array, though neither were built. Bunkers were also created on Laban in secret, just in case the Leviathans were as bad as Ino felt them to be; having never tested it on a non-Chakran, she wasn't sure if her aura reading could be trusted. And with their lack of Chakra, Hanabi and Sarada couldn't get an accurate read on their feelings, either.

When Naruto and Sasuke did finally return, it was with grave news. The Leviathans believed themselves to be the first and only "Apex Race", and that every other race should be subservient to them. When the two refused, stating that the Chakrans wished to be free, it sparked a war that would last millenia and span the entire galaxy, not that either could believe the cost such an offensive could carry.

Hundreds of billions of Chakrans lived and died on a dozen systems and dozens of planets, knowing nothing but the threat of the Leviathans and their indoctrinated warriors, the Kaiju. Killing the Kaiju meant making a planet toxic, but allowing them to live meant they would slaughter every Chakran to the last. The only option the Chakrans had was to evacuate the planets, and then use those planets against the Leviathans if possible, killing two aliens with one giant, previously orbiting stone.

Many new weapons were also created, such as Naruto's _Crimson Striker_ and Sasuke's _Samurai Spirit_. Despite being advocates of peace, they were not ones to sit back while a race bent on eradicating them was loose on the galaxy.

However, the Chakrans quickly realized they were outnumbered. Despite being more advanced technologically, their proficiency at subterfuge, and centuries of warfare tactics, the sheer number of Leviathans and their thrall races was simply overwhelming.

The Chakrans also created the Shinigami, autonomous robotic Leviathan-shaped constructs. Meant to be able to get in close to other Leviathans and their slave races, it proved an effective strategy. Naruto and one such Shinigami named Harbinger were on the front lines of many battles, but usually caused massive collateral damage.

After decimating the slave races and forcing the Leviathans back to their home planet, Shinigami were revealed to the public, as only members of Ninjato had seen them previously. But the reveal proved to be the beginning of the end, as the Chakran civilians feared the Shinigami, and tried many times to destroy them, albeit unsuccessfully. The Shinigami retaliated, and reasoned the Chakrans were a threat to themselves with their inherent warrior-like tendecies.

Thus began the first Reaping, with the Shinigamis' own creators, the Chakrans, as the first harvest.

-X-

 **Boo-yah! Seems awesome, right? RIGHT? The Chakrans created the Reapers, or should I say Shinigami! The next chapter will be a timeskip to far in the future, a handful of years before ME1. This story will cover all three games, and have a much better ending(not that hard, BioWare...). The Galactic War(Chakran &Shinigami/Leviathan&Slaves) and Shinigami War(Chakran/Shinigami) will be shown in flashbacks, as well as the Chakrans' own advancement from after the 4th Shinobi War to Naruto trying to help the new races in preparing for the Shinigami. Lemme know what you think! Main Pairings will be Naruto/Tali(slow-burn) and Fem!Shep/Garrus(much quicker), among others. And believe me, the other chapters will be around 4k to 5k words apiece. This was just to showcase the past. It'll come back, though...**


	2. The Harvests Begin

KrossoverXKing presents Chapter 2 of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a crossover between _Mass Effect_ and _Naruto_

Enjoy!

 **Sorta info-dumpy chapter at the beginning. Just detailing the failed Cycles Naruto has had to deal with. He does want to help, but it never seems to be enough. I'll put a chapter spacer when it's over if you want to skip, but if you do read it, see how many races you know;)**

-X-

Eons had passed since the fall of Gakure. The Cycle continued despite his best efforts. He tried countless times to stop it, but the Shinigami were proving more powerful with each repetition. They transformed organic tissue at the cellular level into what Harbinger called Machine Phase Matter, which was then programmed to form a new Reaper from that particular species.

Each time, he uplifted certain races and imbued them with various facets of his power. Only one race had been able to carry all of his abilities in their genome, and that race was the Humans.

The humans… He didn't know what it was about that race, but they reappeared every few cycles. After the third time he saw them, he decided to make them his vanguards. They did, eventually, drive the Shinigami back to Dark Space, but a bio-weapon sent them careening across the galaxy in a reckless "Scorched Planet" policy. Their unique resonance with his chakra notwithstanding, they were the closest he came to defeating the machines he had set upon the galaxy.

Afterwords, he always split his gifts among the up-and-coming races, to increase his chances, and to lessen the possibility of biological warfare being used to win once again.

The Forerunners gained his strength and chakra, while the Huragok gained his intelligence and technological advancements. When the Shinigami arrived, however, the Huragok hid themselves when the Forerunners needed them the most. Though the Forerunners had very powerful weapons at their disposal, most of them required operation by the Huragok, or required too many Forerunners to be feasibly used.

The Sangheili were gifted with intelligence and strength, the Kig-Yar held his chakra, and the Lekgolo inherited his regenerative properties(and perhaps appetite). This was the first time he revealed himself to the races he was trying to save. He immediately regretted it, as the Sangheili began worshiping him as someone called the "Great Precursor". He never stuck around long enough to figure out what they meant.

The Galvans held a special place, being imbued with his Sennin Mode chakra(as opposed to his regular yin/yang chakra) and intelligence, while mimicking the Chakrans technology by themselves. They, also, were plagued with an AI War, where their Mechamorphs hijacked all technology, right before the Shinigami returned. His strength and regenerative abilities were given to the Vaxasaurians, though the two races refused to work together even as the Shinigami tore a bloody swath through their territories.

One of his worst mistakes was giving his intelligence and strength to the Idirans, while his technology and chakra went to the Dra'Azon. With the latter only caring about the planets inhabited by the former Cycles' denziens, the unstable Idirans were free to commit mass genocide. There was no intelligent life, or even pre-intelligent life, anywhere in the galaxy when the Shinigami came.

At least the Shinigami left races incapable of spaceflight alone, allowing the continuation of society, even if they'd be back in 50,000 years to snuff those races out, too.

He then had to chose a species to evolve, and chose one capable of flight this time, as all others were land-based creatures. Sadly, the newly-named Republican Bees tended to stay in their hive, voting for more honey, as opposed to advancing in any meaningful sense.

His shame was so great, that Naruto hid in a cave until a race presented itself intelligent enough to evolve on its own.

He tried again with the Silastics, granting them strength and technology, while the Magratheans were given chakra and intelligence. It was another failure, as the Silastics were apparently insane. And while they managed to defeat a few Shinigami, their downfall was at the hands of the remaining Magratheans who had survived the Silastics' attempts to murder them to the last. Afterwords, the Shinigami had a purely clean-up job, though Naruto made it the hardest clean-up the Shinigami had ever known, due to his anger at his repeated failures at choosing the right combination of races(if there even was one).

The next race was the Pitar, who were remarkably similar to Humans, though they lacked the chakra resonance. Naruto granted them his strength and chakra, while he gave the Humanx(a co-habitation of Humans and the insectoid Thranx) technology and intelligence. Sadly, the Pitar were xenophobic, and threatened the Humanx with war if the Humans didn't abandon the Thranx. The war between the Pitar and Humanx was reaching its peak when the Shinigami arrived, and Naruto used the chaos of war to take out a few more than he normally could.

The Inhibitors were granted technology and chakra, but used them to stop other species from advancing. The telepathic Slugs used the strength-and-intelliegnce-gifted Nestbuilders to push the Inhibitors back, which sparked a war of attrition. The Slugs inhabited worlds, the Inhibitors destroyed them.

Eventually, Naruto stepped in, and killed all involved with the war. There'd be no planets left, otherwise. However, the Inhibitors did allow more than a few races to be spared, since none of them had recovered and reached space by time the Shinigami reappeared. Naruto just flicked them off as they retreated back to Dark Space.

The next Cycle had the highest number of intelligent species due to the machinations of the Inhibitors. The Anx, Besalisks, Bith, Dugs, Duros, Gen'Dai, multiple subspecies of the chakra-resonating Humans, Kaleesh, Kaminoan, Rakata, Togruta, Ubese, and Zabrak all received some portion of his abilities, but millenia of infighting left them no better than the other Cycles. They were almost as good as the first Humans he encountered, however, covering each others' weaknesses. And the fact that many of them could perform raw chakra manipulation was astounding.

This was really pissing him off. If he wasn't still the Jinchuriki of the nine Biju, he doubted he'd be sane after his own personal cycle: assisting a species in advancing, then watch as they squander his gifts, then delve into war and be too weak to fight back at the Shinigami. He rarely placed himself near others, as his power was incapable of staying inside his body, such was the amount. Anyone within ten meters could feel the power he possessed, though they couldn't possibly grasp the amount. Going eons without company would have probably made him stir-crazy.

The Nietzscheans, another non-resonating Human-derivative race, as well as the Paradines, were next to try and overthrow the Shinigami. The Nietzscheans believed Naruto to be their god, despite not having had any religion before, and the Paradines' jealousy over his appearance led to a deep resentment which continued even as the Shinigami appeared and killed them all.

The Shadows, Minbari, and Vorlorn were the most willing to accept the idea of a sentient machine race in Dark Space that wiped out space-fairing races every 50,000 years. That is to say that they didn't immediately assume he was crazy. This may be due to the fact that he resembled their Cycle's Humans, and the fact that an extradimensional race was currently attacking them, and he kinda-sorta helped out...a lot. But even when he tried this trifecta of races, the Shinigami destroyed them just as easily.

The Lanteans and their allied races were another failure. Despite their technological advancement surpassing the Chakrans' own, the Lanteans were a very vain race, and actually transcended to avoid the upcoming war, but not before locking their technology so only those with their DNA could use it. The Furlings were the only ones brave enough to oppose the Shinigami, while the Asgardians flash-froze their DNA and hid it on various icy planets and the Nox actually destroyed every piece of technology they had created in order to avoid the Shinigami's watchful gaze.

Naruto came after and decimated those races. The Nox had sat back as the Furlings fought and died beside him, so he sat back as he ignited their atmosphere. Tuchancka looked better as a desert, anyways. The Asgardians had made sure they would survive even after others hadn't, so he made sure their efforts were in vain by destroying every single DNA sample. And the Lanteans… Well, he just so happened to have a few metaphysical demons sealed in his gut who were tired of seeing races squabble over petty issues just to be destroyed by the Shinigami.

The Vulcans, Romulans, and Humans actually had an uneasy truce during the Cycle War, and had almost won, but the Romulans struck when they thought the war was assured, and betrayed both races. Their focus now on each other, the Shinigami counter-attacked. Once again, the Cycle ended in favor of the sentient machines.

When Naruto uplifted the Hiigarans and Bentusi, he introduced himself immediately so that they were comfortable by time the Shinigami arrive. However, he became the Hiigarans' main ideological figure, while they granted him the title of "Progenitor". Such worship was detrimental to their growth, as they spent more time looking for him than anything else. When the Shinigami came, the Hiigarans were flat-footed as the Bentusi sacrificed themselves to buy enough time for the former to prepare. But it wasn't enough.

It was _never_ enough...

The Mutzachan, Kizanti, and Phentari had been three of a few dozen sentient species, but war had ravaged the galaxy. The Phentari had enslaved the Mutzachan and came to the Kizanti homeworld before they had achieved spaceflight, only to begin a bloody genocide. By the time the Shinigami came, only the Mutzachan and Kizanti were left. Intelligence and Technology had won over Brute Strength in a way that had nearly failed the Chakrans and Shinigami during their war with the Leviathans and Kaiju. Nevertheless, once the Shinigami came with a higher intelligence and more advanced technology, the two didn't stand a chance.

Humans once again made their appearance alongside the Tau and Eldars. While none of them particularly liked the others, they were content to go their own way, and faced the Shinigami on three seperate fronts. However, they were all losing ground, and eventually died in their own corner of the galaxy.

Every time, for over two million years, he failed. It didn't matter if there were one or ten races, if he _uplifted_ one or ten races… The Shinigami came. The Shinigami destroyed. They killed. They got better. And better. And they crushed Naruto's dreams of removing the blight he caused on the galaxy so long ago.

And every five or so cycles, the Humans reappeared, driven to make their mark on the galaxy.

 **-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

 **Info dump done(if you skipped it).**

 **Not really, though, but don't skip this part.**

 **We're closer to ME1 than you may think.**

 **-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-**

The problem was that they just weren't powerful enough to defeat the Shinigami. Even with the jumpstart of the Chakrans' technology, the Shinigami had _eons_ , and every victory granted them more power.

And that was when he remembered the constructs that hadn't been built due to the Leviathans' untimely war. He uplifted a four-legged race with two small arms, an elongated neck, and an insect-themed head, and set to work.

As they finally entered their Bronze Age, Naruto finally finished his first project.

The Maledicta – Multi-Dimensional Chakra-based Transference Array – was a galaxy wide version of the original planet-based Chakra Transference Array surrounding Gakure, used to reach Aeia quicker after the Chakran Civil War, though this one didn't require chakra. It had been used to reach all of the Chakran/Shinigami bases quicker during the Galactic War. But after the Inhibitor/Nestbuilder Cycle, there weren't many habitable systems left in relation to the size of the galaxy.

He even built one for himself, though of course this one wasn't stationary, nor did he just have it out in the open. Using a Uzushionium sphere to hide the emissions from the Ring Propulsion System(as the exotic metal absorbed the energy instead of allowing it to phase through), while a simple cylinder covered the Chakra Directional Ejector, made it seem as if he just had a weirdly proportioned ship.

And while at his home system to mine the Uzumaki-named metal, he stopped by the chakra-emitting Gas Giant Kaguya, as that was originally why the Leviathans couldn't find them. Due to the fact that chakra made every electronic measurement device peak and stay there, it made it impossible to tell if anything else was in the cloud, much like how the Chakrans had stayed hidden.

This was caused by the fact that Jubi Trees(yes, there were more than one...dozens, actually) grew in the condensed-liquid core of the planet. Luckily for the blonde, direct descendants of the Ootsutsuki Clan could breath in space due to special alveoli which converted dark matter into oxygen. Their unique chakra also created a transparent semipermeable bubble around them when they were in the void, to combat depressurization and the near-Absolute Zero temperatures.

Not even Kaguya had gone here; one of the trees had somehow been uprooted, and traced the same path chakra had to wash Gakure in the unique radiation, landing in what had come to be known as Kusagakure.

As he returned, it was evident the backpack he was wearing was filled with what appeared to be purple, foot-long sunflower seeds. They were the seeds used to create the Jubi Trees. He simply had to condense his chakra until it liquefied, then place a single seed inside it. Afterwords, the seed would hold it together with its own residual chakra. Then, a month later, a chakra-emitting proto-planet would appear, which would double in size every week for the next two months until it reached a respectable diameter of roughly 72,000 miles, complete with rings and a few moons. The seperated yin-yang chakra it created formed a solid shield around itself as a defense mechanism until it bloomed and could hide itself within the chakra cloud.

Once it was large enough, it formed Bretheren Moons, which were semi-sentient organisms created to protect the planet, and the ring systems which were the former shell it no longer required. The rings were nearly invisible due to how thin they were, but would have created a large "X" over the planet if the had been visible. The rings only purpose was to direct the chakra emissions from the planet, to where they noticed a large group of beings. The rings speeding up in certain areas removed excess gas and expelled it in the appropriate direction.

However, since Naruto was the only one around right now, the chakra simply expanded until it created a relatively thin dead-zone along the center of the galaxy. He had planted five other Jubi Trees along a promising area of the galaxy. From Strabo to Sol it stretched, and he set to work on the Geranium.

The real Geranium was a five-petaled flower(thank Ino for the name), and the space station of the same name would have five "petals" as well. The citizens would live on the petals, which would rotate to simulate average gravity. When observing the Leviathans' thralls, it was revealed that most of them lived with a pretty constant gravitational pull. Gakure was close to five times normal, granting him strength far beyond what he had on his home planet. It was also revealed that most breathed oxygen, much like Chakrans, and the average species height was 2 meters, but he added a little wiggle room just in case.

He also made sure to _not_ make everything chakra-coded. This was meant to be a safe haven for other races from the Shinigami. It was also capable of FTL jumps between Sol, Strabo, and the center of the newly-named Serpent Nebula.

And as soon as he finished _that_ behemoth of a project, one of his clones dispelled, transferring the knowledge of a space-fairing race en route to him. Getting rid of the rest of his clones(the backlash being minimal due to the tedious and repetitive work), Naruto made himself scarce as the Inusannon became the first non-Chakran to see the Geranium.

-X-

New-Day-Rising stood in awe at the 50-kilometer long space station slowly rotating outside the Never-Shout-Never's viewport. When All-Along-the-Watchtower told him what he saw, he thought the keen-eyed man was hallucinating.

But it was real.

"Sir," Speaking-with-the-Angel interrupted; they had been watching the station for an hour without moving closer, and his CO had been staring with his mouth open for just as long. He was ready to call back to their home planet and get some damn scientists to check this place out. They were surveyers, they knew how to check things out from a distance, but this required more than just a few passive scans. Which, by the way, they couldn't get due to the fact that all their gauges were red-lined ever since they entered this nebulae.

"Forgive me, Speaking," New whispered, barely keeping his eyes away from the very _alien_ construct. The Inusannon were very technologically inclined, and this was a gold-mine!

"Contact Rock&Roll… Let them know what we found. And let them know to send the Guns-n-Roses, as well. We have no idea what sort, if any, species is there."

"Aye, Captain," Speaking replied. Meanwhile, New watched as their companion ship, Incubus, floated silently beside them. That ship contained the other crews. There were six in total, switching out in one-month periods. Another day, and he'd be in cryosleep while Sympathy-for-The-Devil made headlines.

"They're sending Muse as well!" Speaking called out loudly, earning cheers from the bridge crew. Muse was the most famous science ship alongside REM. And luckily, it would take just over five months for the two ships to reach them, putting them to arrive right at the beginning of their next scheduled shift.

And the clueless expression on Symapthy's face as he held up his middle finger made his cryosleep the most enjoyable he had ever experienced.

-X-

So this is what became of the race that inherited his intelligence and chakra… They were about 1.5 meters tall, grey or brown-skinned, with brightly colored markings painted on their face.

As they were so preoccupied with the Geranium, they didn't even notice when he took the knowledge of their language, currency, and how they used computers and the like so he could input it into the Geranium. Of course, it would make a big show of learning their language and all that, just to seem legitimate.

He really hoped this worked…

-X-

Fuckin' Shinigami! Every damn time! The Maledicta just prolonged the inevitable, making the Shinigami have to cleanse more planets, but the Geranium had been found due to the help of a few Inusannon traitors. The data on all of their inhabited planets was just ripe for the picking, and the Shinigami always took any opportunity they could.

But what surprised Naruto was what the Inusannon did next.

They passed on their intelligence and chakra to the next race, dark green lizards with four eyes and wedge-shaped heads that lived in complex cave systems on Syided. How they did so, Naruto had no idea. He had been busy wiping the Geranium clean to prevent the Shinigami from learning anything else, about the Inusannon or the Geranium itself, as well as to give the Inusannon a fighting chance by keeping the rest of their advancements secret.

Then the Shinigami stole one of his Maledictas, and Naruto demanded answers.

" _ **Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto… the Objector,"**_ Abash stated without preamble once the blonde blocked his way. Now, normally, this wouldn't pose a problem. Naruto was exactly two meters tall, and Abash had the entirety of space to move around him.

But Naruto wasn't playing around. With Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in his left eye, his own Six-Paths Sage/Kurama eye as his right, and Kaguya's enhanced Rinnegan exposed on his forehead, his glare would have been enough.

But the fact that he had his ethereal three-headed Kurama Cloak on decked out in Susanoo's armor while a dozen asteroid-sized Truth-Seeking Balls rotated behind him… Abash knew he was outmatched.

" _ **Take me to Harbinger,**_ " the blonde ordered, their voices audible due to the fact that they could vibrate dark matter in the same way they could air molecules.

Instantly, Naruto felt a presence from behind him, and the requested Shinigami emerged from within the nearby Gas Giant's white supercells.

" _ **Leave us, Abash."**_ It wasn't an order. It didn't have to be. Anything Harbinger said, the other Shinigami obeyed. He turned to his former partner. Now, they were just leaders on different sides of a war. A war lasting eons.

The Cyclical Wars.

" _ **You have been busy since the last Cycle. I must express gratitude on your creation of the centralized information system. Census records indicated every inhabited planet in the galaxy. And your upgraded Chakra Transference Array System made this the fastest harvest yet..."**_

" _ **You won't be able to get under my skin as easily, Harbinger,"**_ Naruto said with a smirk. **_"Give it two, three Cycles max before you're no more. I suggest you do one of two things: run, or die."_**

While Harbinger listened to the only one able to oppose them for this long, he remembered the words spoken a month before they finally overcame the Leviathans and Kaiju.

" _Don't worry, Harbinger. Give it two, three months max… We'll definitely win!"_

Had his precognition gotten so powerful that he could go from seeing a hundred days to 100 _,000_ _years_ into the future? Or was it something else? Did he somehow know their numbers were even lower than they had been during the First Harvest?

For two meter beings, it took five million to create a Capital-class Shinigami, three million for a Cruiser-class, two million for a Destroyer-class, one million for a Frigate-class, and a mere two hundred thousand for a Corvette-class. Harbinger, himself, would require twenty-five million, and was currently the only one of his size.

He intended to keep it that way.

Having individuals who possessed chakra increased their yield by roughly ten times depending on their chakra, so if they had a full compliment of chakra-wielders, Corvettes would only cost twenty thousand for example.

But the problem was that Naruto destroyed dozens of Capital-class Shinigami every cycle, not to mention the smaller ones, and there was the aliens themselves, who would rather die than be captured. He still couldn't fathom why they would rather waste their lives than become something that was as close to perfection as possible.

" _ **To be saying that, you must know who will be coming next. Such information is impossible to learn. Tell me; who will be the lead race during this next Cycle?"**_

Naruto grimaced at that statement. The Inusannon were losing, that much was evident. While their technology surpassed even the Lanteans, they were scientists, not warriors. Once they found no other intelligent life in the galaxy, their Navy was merely a few Cruisers, and even then they were poorly armed.

He needed to save a few of them, if only for them to take care of the Geranium. They couldn't be the ones to tell the next race. It had to be him. He was the one who created them, he would be the one to break the news to the next race.

" _ **Just a few cave lizards the Inusannon found… Don't worry, I wiped that little fact from the archives once I heard you nabbed their census. The Inusannon uplifted them themselves not too long ago. Not much, just enough to make sure they'd be the ones evolution favored."**_

" _ **And now one of your tricks are exposed,"**_ Harbinger said with a hint of satisfaction.

" _ **Yeah. One. Out of how many again? Trust me, Harbinger. It may not be this next race, but the Humans are coming back soon, and I'll make sure they're ready for you."**_

His creator's new attitude was a complete oddity to Harbinger. With so many failures, and so many deaths on his hand, the guilt should have been crippling. But instead, he was as optimistic as ever.

" _ **Your optimism is as confusing as it is unnecessary. You have spoke to me, but now I must leave. A race does not harvest itself..."**_

As Harbinger turned to leave, he felt a sharp pain, and then saw his two back legs careening towards the system's sun. The three-headed six-armed nine-tailed fox that his creator had become was now right in front of him. Harbinger fired his main cannon as quickly as possible, but the blast did nothing to its target.

Instead, it nearly blew Harbinger away. Nearly, because the giant fox had dug its claws into his carapace, creating deep gouges but not allowing him to go very far. When Harbinger tried to knock him away with his other two arms, two tails dissuaded him of that notion by ripping them off as well, where they gouged into a small frozen planet.

" _ **What...do you want?"**_ Harbinger asked, pain in his voice. It wasn't pain like organics felt, not really, but was pain from the loss of capabilities. For sentient machines, it was as close to pain as they could get.

" _ **The Maledicta… Where are you taking it?"**_

" _ **Y-Your modified Transference Array? We've transferred it to Dark Space by now. Do not… Don't fret. It will be returned to you once we are done with it. I applaud your technological capabilities. The station where their census was. Yours as well?"**_

Making sure to hide his emotions at the mention of Dark Space, Naruto shook his former partner. _**"What do you want with it? You know how to make the Transference Arrays..."**_

" _ **This one is special. I will not tell you how. You are intelligent enough to find out on your own. And if not, then the next Harvest will end as quickly as this one."**_

" _ **I'm leaving now, Harbinger… I have time-sensitive plans, as I'm sure you do as well."**_ Naruto released Harbinger, where he stayed. He was too damaged to move.

" _ **Why not just kill me now?"**_ Harbinger asked as Naruto began to leave. **_"The opportunity is here, and yet you hesitate to deliver the finishing blow… If you wish to see me dead, do so now."_**

Naruto gave a humorless laugh as he continued to leave. _**"You're wrong, Harbinger… I don't want to kill you;**_ _ **you've left me with no choice. I brought you into this galaxy, and now..."**_

Harbinger stayed silent, realizing Naruto wasn't done. This doubt could prove advantageous if Harbinger was ever backed into a corner like right now, but when he or another Shinigami could capitailize on it.

" _ **Now I have to take you out of it. But not like this. This is the first time I've seen you during the Harvest, so I'm giving you a warning: the next time I see you, I'll kill you. Believe it."**_

Harbinger did.

-X-

Naruto did manage to save a few Inusannon, but the trauma they faced was such that they were all suicidal. They did just watch their entire race killed by machines they told the blonde who saved them couldn't exist.

So Naruto wiped their memories, making them self-sufficient mechanics to handle the upkeep of the Geranium. That way they did what they liked, and forgot about the fact that they royally fucked up as a race.

Eventually the Maledicta the Shinigami took was returned, though it now had a red core as opposed to a blue one, as if Biju chakra powered it as opposed to normal yin/yang chakra. Other than that, it functioned normally. He honestly had no idea what they did with it.

He watched them for a hundred years from the edge of the galaxy. He had no idea why, but Dark Space brought forth the Bijus' animalistic natures, and his as well. He could go out there, but who's to say he'd remember why once out there? Best to wait for them.

Then, just as he decided to watch the galaxy again, a clone dispelled.

The now-named Protheans had just left their caves. They were already Tier 5.

-X-

 **Almost 4700 words. 4-5k is going to be what my chapters usually are. Besides, I didn't want him to deal with the Protheans just yet. That'll be next chapter.**

 **As for this story, 816 people have read it as of 8/5/15 10:48 PM, 6 reviews(frozenfirekitsune{first}, eniox27, Eipok, Reaper505, mightyvish, and ben revell{longest}), 46 favs, and 64 follows. That's just wow. It's been up for two days, peeps! I hope it's original for you.**

 **Thanks for the positive response!**

 **I'm probably going to update Protecting River next(first NarutoXSerenity/Firefly crossover ever! I didn't know that when I uploaded it). But I'll be back. Probably switch back and forth between this and another story.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	3. The Legendary Council

_KrossoverXKing_ presents Chapter 2 of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a _Mass Effect_ and _Naruto_ crossover

Enjoy!

 **Forgot this, but the song for this story(the whole story) is "This Will Be The Day" by Jeff Williams, feat. Casey Williams.**

-X-

He watched with a morbid fascination as the now-bipedal Protheans dominated the Galaxy after the Zha'til attacked.

The Metacon War solidified their hold on the other races. It was like watching the history of the Leviathans; he could imagine them starting out like this… _Protecting_ the other races, and then never releasing control.

Or maybe not… Maybe they were always assholes who enforced their will on others simply because they could.

The intelligent warrior race, whose dual set of eyes allowed for both depth perception and panoramic vision, was a predator through and through. With three pairs of nostrils, it allowed them enhanced smell not available to other races with forward-facing eyes. Their G-quadruplex DNA also granted them enhanced regeneration and some protection from radiation by "shedding" irradiated cells, an evolution due to the fact that Syided was constantly bombarded with solar flares.

Another feature unique to them was a technique similar to the Yamanaka mind-walk technique, but it only took a touch and a single second to learn all their target did, learning complex ideas such as a new language or brand new skill-set. Such power granted them the ability to spawn an army from a civilian neighborhood, though having knowledge _and_ experience created a gap in skill which still necessitated a standing military, composed solely of pure-blooded Protheans.

The Protheans also were the second-quickest Cycle, after those affected by the Inhibitors' machinations, to achieve spaceflight. They were quick to tear apart the Inusannon's ruins and surviving technology, and repurposed it for war, such as Kinetic Barriers and Particle Rifles.

And when they discovered the Geranium, it was Naruto who had to stop them from attacking the Inusannon out of principle. The Protheans subjugated the other races due to a philosophy they dubbed the "Cosmic Imperative". It stated that as they were stronger than the other races, it was their duty to protect them, and the easiest way to do so was to make them slaves and control their lives. Should another race resist, the Protheans replied with force.

If that race could defeat the Protheans, they would take the mantle of protecting the weaker races, Protheans included. This assimilation granted the Protheans a galaxy-wide empire with access to intelligence brought by other races.

The Metacon War had scared all the organic races, even those too prideful to admit it.

Naruto also knew the Yamanaka techniques, but the focus needed to enhance his Thalamus, Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Nervous System to use them meant he didn't use it in the middle of a fight.

As he stood, facing the Prothean explorers defended by a small fireteam, he unfolded _Crimson Striker_. He knew they listened to nothing short of brute force.

He held just forward of the ejector on a collapsible black and red CheyTac Intervention which fired .408 rounds. It was equipped with a four-foot barrel and a segmented five-foot-long scythe replacing the more common muzzle brake, while the blade was protected by a black and red guard to match the rifle.

His outfit was black Segmented Enhancement Armor, powered by Kurama's untainted biju chakra, causing it show the marking that were usually black on his Chakra Cloak were golden trails of flame on his armor. His mask had two slits for each eye, while overlapping plates were on his cheeks, ears, and nose, the latter granting a horn that curved towards the back. Golden tribal markings were scrawled with the penmanship of a calligrapher over the entirety of the mask, matching the main suit body. His sapphire irises could be seen through the lower slits.

On his back was a three-foot-long, one-foot-wide gunmetal grey barrel, while blades of multiple colors could be seen in gaps near the top. Over his shoulder, only a thick sword handle with two triggers could be seen, with a black ribbon connecting the handle to the barrel.

And though the thin segmented plates seemed rusted, the helmet, Crimson Striker, and the barrel were gleaming in the artificial light, but it all seemed as strong, if not more so, compared to the Protheans' own armor.

Slowly, very slowly… Naruto lifted his hand from his weapon as if in surrender, and the warriors advanced, their Particle Rifles trained on him. When the first lifted his weapon to hit the blonde in the head, Naruto struck first.

He grasped the buttstock of his own weapon, dislodging it from the ground, and swung so it struck his first adversary on the side with the top of his weapon, sending the unfortunate Prothean slamming into the wall.

The other three members recovered, the green beams narrowly avoided by Naruto as he twisted in the air. Quickly stabbing his weapon into the ground so the barrel pointed to them, Naruto pulled a lever on the left side of the rifle, and a triangular transparisteel shield sprung out from the scythe, stopping the shots from the now-advancing members of the fire team from getting close to him.

Naruto fired a single .408 round, hitting the Prothean on his left in his right shoulder, tearing through the shield, armor, body, and the other side of the armor as if none of it was there. The deafening _crack_ of the shot rung in the hallway, followed quickly by a second that hit the one on his right in his left shoulder.

As Naruto ejected the smoking cartridge and aimed for the center mass target of the lone Prothean, the alien quickly dropped his weapon in surrender. Naruto smirked.

The entire exchange, from the first strike, had lasted less than ten seconds.

Quickly folding _Crimson Striker_ up, Naruto knocked the two shot Protheans before stalking towards the lone still-conscious Prothean, the more scientific-oriented members having not moved.

When Naruto was but a step from the lone conscious member of the Prothean fire team, the alien lifted his hands quickly up and to his left, before sweeping them to his right.

Though it was closed and hidden, the former tri-dojutsu combination of Kaguya Ootsutsuki was not hampered by an eyelid and processed Uzushionium. The chakra the Prothean used as a crude form of space magic, thanks to the Inusannon, rushed at Naruto from his right side.

Naruto lifted his hand towards the attack, and the Rinnegan's ability of chakra absorbtion negated the attack.

Slowly, purposefully, Naruto reached over his shoulder, grasping the sword handle there. A barely audible click was heard as he pulled one of the triggers, before showing the fact that the sword handle had a gun barrel built in so it faced the same way a sword's blade would. The click had been Naruto unlocking the blade.

The Prothean now stilled completely, thoughts of another counter-attack dashed from his mind as the small gun's barrel was pressed between his forward-facing eyes. He fearfully fell to his knees, the barrel still trained on him.

Then, faster than any of the Protheans could blink, Naruto brought the weapon down on the carapace atop the alien's head, a very different _crack_ from the two that had echoed through the hallway earlier signaling his trip to unconsciousness.

Replacing the handle, Naruto walked towards the closest scientist with one hand raised and the other held forward, having made a show of taking his left glove off.

The scientist seemed petrified, most likely with the ferocity and speed at which their protection detail had fallen. Or maybe because of the visible haze around him due to his vast amount of chakra. But luckily for Naruto, a female scientist was brave enough to step forward.

Unluckily for Naruto, her fellow scientists were so scared they were hampering progress.

Luckily for Naruto, she seemed adamant to follow through with Prothean/Chakran First Contact.

Contact that didn't involve combat, at least…

-X-

"Let go of me, Beheeyem," the female growled at her green-eyed co-worker.

"No, Deoxys," the modified Prothean said. His carapace actually curved upwards as opposed to being flat, having been changed due to his artificially larger brain size. Problem was, he was only marginally smarter and tired much more easily. He thought he was smarter than her. He was descendant of Clefairy, the first Prothean to make first contact with an alien species.

"He's trying to initiate first contact," Deoxys said irritably, her unique blue and red biotics – as that was what they called it – flaring slightly. Her biotics granted her Variable Orientation Armor, which could enhance her defense, physical strength, speed, or a slight boost in all three simultaneously.

"I'm pretty sure _first contact_ goes to Cobalion," Mime, ever the comedian, said dryly. Everyone glanced to their downed protector indented into the wall.

"He either knows about our Psychometry, or has it himself," she continued, as if she hadn't been interrupted. "Whichever one it is, with one touch, we'd know all we needed to about him," she rationalized.

With no one else stepping up, Deoxys finally turned to the alien in front of her. The hand was covered with a slightly tan membrane that was apparently not rigid, ending in four fingers of differentiating length, while a fifth was connected perpendicularly near the bottom. Each finger had at least one joint along the length of it, and each was capped with a nail that seemed to serve no purpose.

Deoxys removed both her gloves.

-X-

"Huh..." Naruto said with a small note of detached surprise. The Prothean scientist had two different hands. The left was a normal Prothean hand, with three fingers, thumb included. It was covered with overlapping plates, and the fingers were slightly pointed as a result. The right, however, had five fingers like his, but that was where the similarities ended.

The arm was a blue tendril and red tendril wrapped around each other like a strand of DNA. The red tendril branched off into three smaller tendrils which pantomimed his first three fingers, while the blue one branched off into two smaller tendrils to act like the last two fingers.

It had to be either a mutation or a modification, he wasn't sure which.

As a courtesy, Naruto removed his other glove, revealing that his right hand was made of wood, with the rings being made of golden light as opposed to darker wood. Above it, the blue-violet skeletal hand of Sasuke's Susano'o rested perfectly above where a normal skeletal structure would be.

As if by unspoken agreement, they each presented their right hands, their fingertips touching the other's palm.

-X-

"Oh… Oh, wow..." Deoxys muttered. Though Naruto hadn't shown her all the Harvests, he showed her the Chakrans' and the Inusannons'.

It had been enough.

"You okay, Deoxys?" her fellow female scientist, Mew, asked. The uniquely magenta-colored Prothean was an oddity in the sense that she had been born with the ancestral memory of her direct descendants, but couldn't perform Psychometry.

"Mm-hmm. Yeah," Deoxys muttered after a second. She stood up – when had she fallen on the floor? - and watched the armored alien in front of her. She swallowed thickly.

"C-Can you understand me?"

He nodded once, before removing his helmet.

The first thing they saw was his hair. The color of a main sequence star, shoulder-length, and as defiant of gravity as the Ditakur were of peace, it was like nothing they had ever seen. His skin was the same tan of his hand, and was made of the same stretchy membrane as well. Curved tufts of hair were over his two forward-facing eyes, which were a deep sapphire and had only one pupil. A ridge between them led to a dual-nostril nose, which lay above his single-split mouth. Both of his cheeks had three dark lines each.

"Yo," he said, waving to the other scientists. Tentatively, they waved back. It wasn't rude to piss off someone with his power.

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a tic he inherited from his father. "So… Take me to your leader?" He asked jokingly.

Deoxys nodded. This colossal citadel wasn't going anywhere. What Naruto had shown her needed to be seen by the Legendary Council. "Yes. We can always study this later." She turned to leave, but turned back to him just as quickly. "Can you resuscitate our comrades first?"

"Hmm?" He asked, a clueless expression on his face. Deoxys motioned behind him, and a glint of recognition appeared in his eyes as he turned around to see the four unconscious Protheans still as such.

"Sure," he said, palms glowing green. He placed his hand on the carapace of the first, and cracks sounded as it mended under the blonde's Iryojutsu. A quick smack to the cheek woke him up.

The next two took a mite longer to heal their gunshot wounds, but were still completely healed. The downside to _Crimson Striker_ 's high velocity(nine percent of lightspeed) meant that there was rarely any shrapnel damage unless he _specifically_ made the rounds to shatter on impact. Though he guessed he was lucky this time that it was like that.

The last man was as easy to heal as the first, though included a few cracked ribs and some bent armor. Luckily it was magnetic, so he could use magnet release to fix it. He also woke up after a quick slap to the face.

After Deoxys gave a brief summary on what she saw, it was back to Syided, to meet with the so-called ' _Legendary Council_ ' so they could prepare for the invasion.

-X-

It took a day and a half to reach the second planet in the Hercules System, but another six hours to get from the landing pad to the chamber which held the Protheans' government.

Naruto knew it was an understandable precaution, what with an alien who took down four of their best guardians in about ten seconds, without a surprise attack.

But see them he did. The main one had a carapace that extended past his head a good two feet and was painted pure white. A gold circlet was on it with eighteen points, each with a different colored stone. His armor was a decorative grey and white combination.

Below him were a blue-painted one with silver armor, a pink-painted one with white armor, another white-painted one with blue armor, a gold-painted one with red armor, a white-painted one with white armor, and a black-painted one with black armor.

Even more were below them. One was blue with blue armor, the next was green with green armor, and a third was red with red armor. Beside them was another blue one with blue armor, a yellow one with yellow armor, and a red one with orange armor. Even further over was one who had blue and black armor with a gold eight-pointed circlet, one with red and black armor with a white fur collar, and one who had green and black armor with a five-pointed black circlet.

Even the four he attacked had seats, though they apparently weren't as important as the ones who were in the center.

"All hail Emperor Arceus," the one with green armor and a green-painted carapace said clearly as he stood, placing his right fist over his left pectoral with his wrist facing upwards.

Everyone in the room, sans Naruto and the most important-looking one, pantomimed the green-themed Prothean.

"Many thanks, Archduke Rayquaza," the one with the very pointy crown said, with his fist on his chest as well. "Now, I believe Lady Deoxys has something she wishes to share with the Council…" He turned to said Prothean who stood beside and slightly ahead of Naruto. "That is why you requested our presence, is it not? Something important?"

Deoxys knew that it was not simply because she requested their presence that the Legendaries were convening. It was because the Alien they found took out the Guardian Barons that her request was even entertained.

"Yes, Emperor," she said instead. It wouldn't do to be disrespectful. "Using Psychometry, I have learned of an existential threat that has plagued this galaxy for innumerable years."

"Oh? And yet we have no proof of their existence. One does not simply disappear, Deoxys… Someone knows what happens to them," said the one with the fur collar.

Ignoring the slight of him not using her title, Deoxys motioned to Naruto. "He does, Duke Yvetal. His race was the first to be exterminated."

Naruto stepped forward, inclining his head. He now wore clothing similar to the final transformation of his Kurama Cooperation Cloak. The cloak was a knee-length white number, while the fake flames that had decorated his armor now danced along the edge of the cloak. The sleeves went all the way to his wrist, while black armor covered the top of his hands. The collar was tall enough to cover his mouth if it was closed, while nine different-colored magtama were along the edge. On the back of the cloak was nine black magtama in a square formation underneath a depiction of the Rinnegan.

A black shirt with a zipper on the front was worn under the cloak, while it was topped by a simple grey chestplate that had nine different colored magtama etched along the top edge and the seal that used to house Kurama carved on the bottom. His pants were tan, the weapon pouch in its customary place on his right thigh. His shinobi sandals were replaced with black combat boots with red laces.

"My name is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, first name last. Everything Deoxys said is true… A race of sentient machines known as Reapers have cleaned this gala-wait… Rea-per..." And then his mouth moved silently for two syllables. He honestly looked perplexed beyond reason. "...alright. This is embarrasing. I'm stuck on your language." He shook his head.

"Anyways, every 50,000 years or so they return and destroy any space-fairing race, leaving any still planet-bound alone. I'm assuming they don't want AI to be created, since the Zha'til were only the third time a machine race has been created, but they weren't completely artificial… Each time it's happened has been because the race before was further advanced than 50,000 years would allude to."

"And how have you survived this long?" The one with the eight-pointed circlet asked. "What you are speaking of is analogous to immortality, which is impossible for all intents and purposes."

"Duchess Xerneas has a point, Stranger Naruto," Arceus replied. "I realize you may wish not to divulge some secrets, but a brief synopsis would suffice."

"Of course," Naruto said. "The first factor is my heritage. My family on my mother's side always had longevity and a strong life force, while my father's family had cellular processes that functioned at near-lightspeed, granting them quick reflexes and longer lives, due to the fact that the closer to lightspeed something operates, the slower it ages.

"The day of my birth, a demon made of pure life energy was sealed inside of me by my parents, and it was the strongest of nine. During my teen years, a war erupted, and the other eight were sealed inside of me after the man trying to control the world unleashed them on the battlefield. I was the only one capable of holding them, due to the fact that they either had to be sealed into babies or descendants of my mother's family.

"Also unleashed during that time was a literal goddess, evident by her beauty and power. She transferred her divinity to me to defeat the descendant of her older son. The potency of the life energy she bestowed on me is the only reason I don't look my age.

"And during my race's own fight against the Reapers…, my brother gave me his eyes, one ability of which was a limited suspension from reality. In this case, I cannot die due to age or illness, nor can I get sick."

"He speaks the truth," the all white one said, his Psychometry not needing touch but only being able to read surface thoughts.

Arceus nodded. "Thank you, Reshiram." He turned to the blonde. "Tell me, Naruto… What is your relation to these... _Reapers_?"

"I created them," Naruto stated simply. He saw no reason to lie.

" _You did WHAT!?_ " That came from behind him. A red-painted Prothean with blue armor and a blue-painted one with red one had yelled in unison.

"Latios, Latias… Please?"

"Yes, Emperor Arceus," the two said, again in unison.

"But they do raise a good point," Rayquaza stated respectfully; he didn't want to make it seem like he was second-guessing his Emperor's reprimand.

"That they do," Arceus said, nodding. He glanced around the room, and noticed the green-and-black themed Prothean trying to subtly get his attention. "Question, Zygarde?"

"For the alien, my Emperor, if I may?" With Arceus' nod, he continued. "You are obviously powerful, Stranger Naruto… My question is two-fold: Why are they programmed to do as they do, and why have you not stopped them?"

Naruto's exhale was quite audible when he heard those questions. "The Reapers… are pro- _were_ programmed with the sole directive of protecting my race, the Life Energy Wielders… _really?_ " He coughed. "Anyways, I designed the Reapers… to look like our enemy, granting us an element of surprise. The war lasted thousands of years, but our civilian population never saw our enemies or the Reapers… When the war was over, I decided to reveal them to our civilians. The civilians were terrified; my partner during the war, one known as Harbinger, meaning to foreshadow the coming of another. He was the first Reaper… He was also the largest, at roughly eight-hundred feet when standing. The civilians were terrified.

"When they attacked, the other Reapers… came out of nowhere. They defended the one who, for all intents and purposes, was their father… Their main weapon is a magnetic linear accelerator the length of their body. It fires a stream of liquid Tungsten, Uranium, and Whirlpool Metal at 48 percent the speed of light.

"The city they attacked held something like twenty-eight million people, and they razed it to the ground… The Uranium ensured that no one would live there any time in the future… The funny thing is the city was called Land of Harmony…

"When I asked Harbinger why, he told me we were an inherently aggressive species, which was true. There hadn't been a period of peace longer than thirty years for the last millennium. He said they were saving us...from ourselves. That we had to reap what we had sown, and that they would be our final Harvest…

"I was the next to attack them… I didn't even use any of my abilities. I just cried, and yelled, and punched him until my knuckles bled… Then he threw me through a half dozen buildings and left… I've been fighting them ever since."

" _And, knowing what you know now, would you have destroyed this Harbinger when you had the chance?_ "

To Naruto's left was three balls of energy, one yellow, one pink, and one blue. The yellow one had been pulsating, so he assumed it was the one that had spoke.

" _The past is the past,_ _Uxie,_ " the blue ball of energy vocalized next. " _This one's fortitude is without question. To have survived, for millions of years...watching quadrillions, no doubt, perish from the constructs he admits to crea-_ "

" _How_ are _you?_ " the pink one asked, thankfully cutting the blue one off. Arceus seemed content to let this play out. " _Azelf's disrespect aside, such trauma or isolation is not without consequences...and you have suffered both… How is your mental stability?_ "

" _And you talk of disrespect, Mespirit?_ " an orange sphere he hadn't seen spoke up. " _My name is Victini, Stranger Naruto. I have spoke simply because you did not answer Archduke Zygarde's second question, which was the one I held the most anticipation for._ "

" _Why have you not attacked these Reapers and destroyed them, already? You are obviously powerful._ " That was the one known as Uxie, again.

"I fight them every cycle," Naruto said. "I destroy _dozens_ of their most powerful ships every time… But when they retreat past the edge of the galaxy, I cannot follow them. The dark between galaxies is one man was never meant to cross..."

He shuddered visibly.

"As for why I haven't destroyed them; I can, of that there is no doubt. But I do not wish to do so alone… I wish for the races of a cycle, _all of them_ , to fight alongside me. If they are going to colonize a galaxy with impunity, I want them to be ready and willing to fight for it.

"I cannot die, I know that… I fought tooth and nail, even when my own men were turned against me, even when the closest thing I had to children tried to kill me, even when my wife died in my arms… I _refuse_ to let a race that did not suffer hardship live when my own gave _everything_ and has only myself to show for it.

"I created the Reapers... yes, and I payed the ultimate price: having to watch all of those I love die and having to live with the grief and the fact that it is no one's fault but my own. But you must fight for what you have achieved, or you will squander it… Over twenty million years, four-hundred and three cycles have lost to the monsters that exist only in a Lovecraftian horror…

"Believe me or not, but the only way you will survive is if you all, and your subjugated races, join me when the time comes. Technology of my race, and that of other cycles, can be found across the galaxy. I give you permission to use it… But the Geranium and the Maledicta are not to be touched.

"I will be where you found me. If you decide either that you can fight the Reapers…without me, or do not believe me for some reason, send an even number ships. If you send an odd number of ships, I will assist you when the time comes."

And with that, Naruto left. He told them more or less everything. Deoxys had two Harvests in her mind, which she could pass on to the others. It was up to them – Arceus, really – if they had a fighting chance or not.

He could do nothing but wait for their response.

He hoped they chose quickly. He felt a planet where the inhabitants were more in tune with Senjutsu than the Galvans, and they had been _toads!_

He took off with his Susano'o-enhanced Kyuubi Cloak, heading towards the Geranium.

-X-

 **VOILA! Chapter 3. A 4.6k word doozie**

 **BTW: All of you, my cute little Gen-*cough* My awesome little Readers, are amazing. 3,294 views, 133 follows, 94 faves, and 14 reviews. That's gotta beat some sorta record… Maybe a personal one?**

 **Also, tiny little plug(just a two-prong, I swear). If you like Poke'mon games, I'm doing a novelization of HeartGold called Hart of Gold: The Tale of Amber Lynn. It's what I'm updating next, actually.**

 **But seriously, everyone, thank you. Seeing my inbox fill with all the notifications from FanFiction is one of the best feelings I've ever felt(beat out by that one time I had sex and tied with the unconditional loyalty of my Pomeranian, Chewokka FlokkaFlame JackDaniels… or Chewie for short.**

 **Okay, a few discrepancies. I thought the Protheans would be done this chapter, but the next will be, even if I have to go over 5k.**

 **Apparently, with 2mil years, there are only 40 harvests, which isn't enough. So I figured I'd bump it up to 20mil years(400 harvests), but when I was reading up for the "magnetohydrodynamic cannon", I skimmed over the Leviathan of Dis, a Reaper, which is apparently around a _BILLION_ years old, which equates to 20,000 harvests. Okay, first of all, BioWare, that's insane. (RANT AHEAD) **

**The GALAXY is 13.8 billion years old. Solar Nebula(what would one day become solar systems) started forming 4.6 Billion years ago. Accretion Disks(future planets) formed 4.54 billion years ago. You know what was happening a billion years ago? Nothing. Single celled organisms were all that existed. Dinosaurs appeared roughly 320mil years ago. If they had said it was 200mil years old, I'd believe it. It would just require a smart race to be the apex predator in the first place. The only reason Humans took so long is because the Dinosaurs, so mammals couldn't leave their holes and evolve.**

 **(RANT OVER)**

 **Also, should I call them Shinigami or Reapers? It doesn't really matter, and I can do either. Just let me know which you prefer.**


	4. Ill Will from the Distortion World

KrossoverXKing presents chapter 3 of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

A Naruto and Mass Effect Crossover

Enjoy!

 **Thanks for the support!**

 **AN at the bottom**

-X-

42…

The Protheans sent an assortment of fourty-two ships to begin their expedition of the Geranium.

They were refusing his help. After what he had told them, they chose to ignore it.

Those prideful, arrogant sons of bitches.

" _Fuck 'em…_ ," Naruto muttered with a tone of bitterness in his voice. What the hell did he have to say for someone to listen to him?

He made such an expedition impossible as he locked the station down, now appearing like an infantile Jubi Seed instead of the blossoming flower of its namesake.

He hated seeing it like this, but he'd hate seeing the Protheans abuse Ino's creation moreso. Uzushionium would not yield to their weapons.

The Maledicta could not be safely moved anymore. Whatever the Shinigami had done to the now-red-colored Maledicta they took had locked the current system in place in relation to it. From what he could read of the red Maledicta's code, it was set a certain distance from the galactic center. Towards the origin of the universe – where every galaxy was flying away from – was galactic South. When the Shinigami placed it back, it was 48 degrees to the right of this invisible line, roughly South-East. It compensated for the clockwise spin by anchoring it in a geosynchronous orbit with the star Sahrabarik. With the asteroid belt, it was placed along the same path of the medium-sized Imorkan.

He could have always overloaded them, creating a chain reaction that would affect every one… But he wasn't sure what effect the Jikukan-based chakra would produce.

The Protheans could use them, but he would _not_ be happy about it.

When Naruto reached the planet he had felt earlier, he was pleasantly surprised to see the creatures, and if they hadn't been radiating Senjutsu chakra like it was going out of style, he probably wouldn't have.

Only six inches tall, their pale bodies tapering to the different-colored stem of a small leaf, he could see the glint of intelligence in their eyes the multitude of colors only ever displayed by precious stones. He knew not to disprove intelligence based on appearance or fragility.

From each eye stemmed what looked to be a single thick eyelash, while snow white hair seemed to naturally form two pigtails. Their arms ended in something analogous to mittens, which gripped flower stems as breezes blew past.

He gently lifted a blue and white one to eye-level, her unique red and black flower resting on her right shoulder. She crooned as he rubbed her head with his index finger, her amethyst-like eyes sliding shut in contentment.

"Well hello, beautiful," he whispered, not wanting to blow her away or scare her off. She trilled a tune in response, and he was ashamed to admit it was almost as good as his wife's own singing.

It seemed to be the cue for them all to rise up to him, manipulating raw Senjutsu chakra like the Protheans did normal yin-yang chakra. In doing so, they revealed a whole new level he hadn't realized existed.

The younglings' body matched their older counterparts', aside from the fact that the stem held no leaf, but instead wrapped around the stamen of a flower as large as them(about two inches). Their eyes were the color of metals. From copper to gold, from gunmetal to quicksilver, they all shared the spark of intelligence. They lacked eyelashes, and their pigtails hadn't gained enough weight to flop down yet. A halo of what appeared to be pollen was around their heads, while their hands were simple nubs.

He carefully inspected one of them as well, chuckling as she sneezed from the pollen of her own dark violet, near-black flower.

As he was swarmed by the small beings, he vowed that the Shinigami would not harvest them, so long as he drew breath.

He would build them up this Cycle, in all but spaceflight, and then do that as soon as the Shinigami left. The next Cycle would be the last; he would give his life if he had to in order to make it true.

-X-

"It is for the best," a voice echoed in his mind, drowning out all other thoughts but what he was instructed to say.

"It is for the best," he parroted, dooming his race against his own will.

"We defeated the Zha'til. Synthetics are all the same," the voice continued.

And he did as well. "We defeated the Zha'til. Synthetics are all the same."

"Let the alien know. Send an even amount of ships. And imprison the one who entertained him."

"Let the alien know. Send an even amount of ships. And imprison the one who entertained him."

In the darkness, a Prothean smirked at the one who was now his puppet. This Prothean only wore purple pants, and his light purple carapace was concave as opposed to the normal flat. He glanced over as one of his three temporary allies walked up to him in a non-threatening manner.

They had all been sent to the Protheans' only prison: the Distortion World. A prison that existed outside of the normal laws of physics. The crust of the planet had shattered long ago from the conflicting laws, and now each section carried its own rules. Down was not always down here. One could fall towards space, or scramble for purchase as they slid off perfectly level ground. Acute angles acted as if they were obtuse more often than not. Attempting to throw an object could send the thrower hurtling away. The lightest of steps could send one hundreds of feet in the air, or crater the ground as if a meteor had struck.

" _Well…,_ " a garbled voice asked. This Prothean wore all black clothing and has carapace matched Arceus' in that it was white and longer than most. Over his mouth was a red device which wrapped around his neck and made his head tip slightly forward. His blue eyes glowed despite the shadow over them. " _We cannot link with you,_ _Mewtwo_ _. Tell us._ "

"Be patient, Darkrai," Mewtwo said condescendingly. "We have two more guests, as I'm sure you know."

As if on cue, two more Protheans appeared from below, as if they had been falling upwards.

Knowing the Distortion World, they probably had been.

The one on the left landed first. His carapace was a royal gold, and even covered parts of his face. His normal arms were non-existent, but six black mechanical arms sprouted from his back. His clothing – for there was no armor in prison – was striped red and black with grey trim.

The other's carapace was a translucent blue, and shielded his face much like his counterpart's. His grey clothing was drab and tattered, having been here longer than most. His most distinguishing feature was that his left arm was half again as long as was normal, while his right was only half the length of a normal arm.

"Ah, Giratina, Kyurem," Mewtwo greeted them in turn. "So glad you could join us… Darkrai, here, was getting antsy."

" _I simply wish to know what your plan is to destroy the Legendaries,_ " Darkrai said with a slight growl. " _It's been nearly a century and you've yet to make a mov_ _e. Forgive me for being_ antsy..."

"You're forgiven," Giratina said condescendingly, before turning to Mewtwo. "Now, how are we to end the Legendary Council?"

"We're not," Mewtwo said simply. In an instant, Kyurem held him off the edge, where he threatened to fall towards space, with his elongated arm.

"You _swore_!" Kyurem yelled. "You swore we would end them! I followed you so I could end the Guardians! And now..."

" _The Legendaries are stronger than when we battled them,_ " Mewtwo told them telepathically on account of the fact that Kyurem was squeezing his throat. " _The Keldeo you battled is now Keldion… And they have introduced the Fairy-types into the Council with the one known as Xerneas. As you know, all three of you are weak to it… you especially, Giratina._ "

" _So what was all that, then?_ " Darkrai questioned. " _Why continue to control him, then, if we're not going to exact our revenge?_ "

" _If Kyurem would set me down…,_ " Mewtwo muttered, prompting the disgraced Legendary to do so. "A-hem… Now, we all have our reasons for being here, correct? Kyurem, you became so powerful, Arceus split your power between two who are now Legendaries, where you were then defeated by one who is weaker than a Pseudo-Legendary.

"Darkrai, you were being punished for doing what you were born to do, and then Palkia uses a _Warp_ on your throat… Not cool.

"And you, Giratina. Trying to stop a fight between Dialga and Palkia ended with you creating this prison for them, but they place you in it instead for creating it not long after they threw Kyurem in… It is clear that we stand no chance against them. Yes we have gotten stronger, but so have they, and they have also gotten more numerous."

"And what does this have to do with the fact that we _aren't_ killing them?" Giratina asked.

"Because," Mewtwo smirked, "I have remedied both of those problems with two simple orders… An alien came and presented the Council with evidence of a sentient machine race known as the Reapers-"

"Fitting," Kyurem muttered.

"-who appear every 50,000 years and wipe out every spacefairing race, before retreating back to Dark Space. They will either kill the Legendaries for us, or weaken them enough that we can break out of the Distortion World."

" _And the fact that they are more numerous… You_ _said you_ _have a plan for that as well?_ "

"I do, Darkrai," Mewtwo said with a hint of smugness. "She should be here any minute, now..."

35 seconds later, a female figure landed on the ground roughly after being deposited by a Spiritomb Portal with a WonderGuard. She appeared almost like any other Prothean, except her right arm which consisted of an intertwined red and blue tendril. Her clothing was also red and blue.

"W-Where am I?" she asked groggily. "What's going on?"

"You were betrayed by your revered Legendary Council, my dear," Mewtwo lied. "Much like we were oh so long ago..."

"Why?" she asked, standing up. "Last thing I remember is Naruto leaving."

"And that is the last thing you will remember," Kyurem muttered. "Cresselia wipes your memory of the unfair trial, much like a dream that you can't quite remember."

" _Others will remember more, that you had a trial and were found guilty,_ " Darkrai continued. " _But over time, even that will fade, as will their memories of you. Eventually, only Arceus will remember that you even existed..."_

"That is the truth of the Protheans' extended peace and unfathomable power," Giratina said. "They experiment on their own people, and if it goes wrong, the person is sent here." He flexed his arms to prove it.

"If they're too powerful," Kyurem continued, "they get sent here, after their power is torn from them and given to others."

" _If they disagree,_ " Darkrai added, " _they get sent here, after being tortured and mutilated._ "

Mewtwo placed a hand on her right shoulder, and stared straight into her eyes. Deoxys blushed. "If you are better… If you try to change the status quo… Then you're sent here." He searched her face for something, then nodded once he found it. "What is your name? Mine is Mewtwo."

"Deoxys," she said. "Um, are you related to Mew?"

"I am," he admitted. "I am cloned from her. They assumed that if she had been born with more Biotic potential, then she could use Psychometry, so they created me. The experiment was a success, but they feared my power. They gave me a stone dubbed Mewtwonite-eXperimental, to grant me inhibiting armor, but it gave me power beyond even Arceus instead, allowing me to focus my power better.

"When they noticed this, Arceus and all the High-Tier Legendaries beat me to within an inch of my life, tried me, and sent me here."

The others were stoic. Even Kyurem when he was whole wasn't as powerful as Mewtwo with that armor. Mewtwo had a Potential of 780 when using his armor, but was 680 without. Kyurem had been 740 when he was whole, but was now a mere 660. Arceus rested at the top now at a respectable Potential of 720.

Darkrai was only 600, and Giratina was at 680 with Mewtwo, though the form he was forced in to was oriented towards defense.

A Protheans' Potential depended on many factors, including their strength, Biotic potential, stamina, and reflexes. The Legendaries were those with high Potential who had been uplifted by Arceus.

"I am Giratina," said the banished Legendary, continuing the introductions.

" _Darkrai_."

"Kyurem," the last one grumbled his introduction, and Mewtwo nodded.

"You see, Deoxys, we have all been wronged in one way or another by the Legendaries… I simply wish to see them gone from their position of authority."

"And who would take their place?" she asked. "You?"

"No one," Mewtwo countered. "There is not a single Prothean who wouldn't do what is for the betterment of themselves at the detriment of others..."

The others nodded to the statement, and it ticked Deoxys off for some reason. "I'm not like that!" Deoxys denied. "I always try to help everyone out, it's just that no one listens to me…," she finished sadly.

Mewtwo turned to the others, an idea forming which he telepathically told the others. They unanimously agreed.

"If you were to take Arceus' place," Mewtwo began, "then you would be able to help every Prothean… and they _would_ listen to you."

Deoxys' head shot up at the truth in that statement. Every Prothean listened to Arceus without question, believing him to be making the best decision...even if the person would be harmed in some way due to what he was saying. "You want me to take Arceus' place? Why?"

"Because...you have the best interest of the Protheans at heart. That, more than anything, is what we need now. All you have to say is...'I accept'."

"I accept," Deoxys parroted immediately, and it caused every one of the Disgraced Legendaries to smirk. They all knew Mewtwo's power of controlling others. They were all immune for one reason or another; both Darkrai and Giratina were Dark-types, making them immune, and Giratina and Kyurem's carapace which covered their face made them immune to mind tricks for some reason.

But for Deoxys, who had neither, much like Arceus, she could be controlled easily.

All they needed to do was wait for the Reapers to attack, and they could make their move with Deoxys acting as the figurehead for their assimilation.

And in the Distortion World, time was all they had…

-X-

The citadel the Protheans' found was completely closed once they reached it, and nothing they did would change that.

They brought their strongest weapons and brightest minds… Neither was more effective than the other.

They tried sending activation and opening commands on multiple frequencies, but it remained steadfast in its motionlessness.

They tried firing at anything that looked like a weak point, and even a few things that didn't, but both were ineffective. Energy, Projectile, even an Anti-matter gun… They may as well have been blowing air at it for how much they did.

When they did strafing runs with fighter-bombers, the GARDIAN system on the Geranium activated, and quickly tore apart their squadrons. The large surface area meant that dozens of turrets covered any section, so they were easily able to cool down between and during swarms.

The Protheans' problem was that they felt entitled to it. Mewtwo's power only enhanced specific thoughts or feelings. For example, it was true that the Legendary Council would imprison those who wished to change the status quo or incite fear in the public.

Arceus, however, wouldn't have imprisoned Deoxys due to her Pseudo-Legendary status. But the fact that he knew she normally would be imprisoned was enough for Mewtwo to have him send her to the Distortion World.

And in order to have him deny the alien named Naruto, he took hold of the arrogance Arceus felt about defeating the Zha'til and transferred it onto the Reapers.

Not knowing about the Reaper's tampering with the Maledicta, Prothean researchers dismantled the one in their system to study it, trapping themselves and their slave race, the Rachni on Ilos. The resulting explosion of raw chakra blew the connecting Maledicta out of alignment despite being locked in place due to the fact that it entered a different space-time pocket long enough to make it difficult to find, and sending the nearby star supernova.

And when those researchers did what Naruto thought was impossible – create a Maledicta without Uzushionium or Jikukan-oriented chakra – despite the fact that it was only one-way, Naruto had a grudging respect for their ingenuity, but also despised them for their stupidity.

Who takes apart something so haphazardly without knowing anything about it despite what it did? And something that broke the laws of physics to allow FLT travel should be handled with increased care, more than one would use for a bomb!

The end result of the Protheans pride was as such: those on Ilos dying off from lack of resources, the Rachni thriving now that their masters weren't practicing population control, those who used the prototype Maledicta stuck on the Geranium(they built one to go back, but were too weak to power it when they were done), the location of Maledicta connecting to Ilos unknown to Prothean knowledge, and the Reapers ending yet another race.

When the Disgraced Legendaries came to end the Legendary Council, they found the normally immaculate building scorched with weapon fire and splattered with blood.

-X-

Mewtwo, Giratina, Kyurem, and Darkrai entered the silent and deserted Council Chamber, their unease easily overshadowed by their elation. The Legendaries had reaped what they had sown.

A clicking sound echoed throughout the large room, like a large insect had decided to make its presence known.

" _This room feels like death…_ ," Darkrai muttered darkly, his eyes shifting between every shadowed corner.

"Well...people did die here," Mewtwo informed, glad they had decided to leave Deoxys, because he was sure his grin was pretty telling. People who were trying to elect a just ruler didn't have grins like his.

The clicking sounded again, but this time it was parroted by multiple sources. There was still no definitive direction, but it was painfully clear they were surrounded. Mewtwo, however, was adamant about walking forward.

Giratina's silver, Kyurem's light blue, and Darkrai's violet biotics flared around them, the three of them prepared for the ambush they were sure was imminent.

"Where are they?" Kyurem snapped. "If not Arceus, then one Legendary with a 700 Potential or higher should be here… It's protocol."

"Maybe the Reapers killed them," Giratina joked. "They killed everyone else on this damn rock."

" _With lasers, or something similar,_ " Darkrai corrected. " _This building, however, seems to have suffered a civil war..._ "

"It doesn't matter," Mewtwo interrupted, his own indigo energy wrapping around Arceus' throne before having it shatter against a column. His biotics acted again, pulling a stone from out of the rubble. This stone, however, was not a part of the chair. It was a polished sphere with a tri-colored S-shaped symbol. Those three colors were pink, blue, and indigo.

"At last… ha, haha… Ahahahaha! It is I, Mewtwo, who has the last laugh! You tried to suppress me, Arceus, but your arrogance was your downfall. First, by creating me, and then with the Zha-"

The red beam cut through the room and turned the four allies to ash. The creatures which had once been revered Protheans – _Legendary_ _Protheans!_ \- appeared from the shadows that blanketed the room. The hallway which had bisected the room was now a charred gouge down the center, and the glass which had given a panoramic view of Syided was now a molten puddle.

Deoxys would be the last Prothean alive this cycle, and she would die alone of starvation, feeling betrayed by those she considered friends.

-X-

Naruto sighed at the attempted betrayal he witnessed, but ultimately wasn't surprised. In the end, people tried to elevate themselves even as those around them died.

He wiped the Geranium clean, memorizing the systems for the next races. The Athena Nebula, Annos Basin, Local Cluster, Kite's Nest, and Apien Crest were only a few of the races the Protheans had been observing and preparing.

It seemed, at the end, they found information validating his claim of the Reapers' existence. But since he had deactivated the Perseus Veil Maledicta a few centuries before the Reapers returned to hide them from the Harvest meant they had no way to contact him even if they had wanted him. The only reason he knew about _anything_ was because of the liberal use of his signature Shadow Clone Jutsu.

When they chose to name themselves after the Reapers left, it took almost a month to settle on something. Eventually they settled on _Quarian_ , which meant 'People of the Flower' in their own language, Kheelish.

And they had evolved, as well. The average was around five and a half feet tall, and weighing around 130 lbs; they didn't look physically imposing.

But Senjutsu more than made up for it.

Their hair could now be any color a flower could, and fell in waves, though there was always a small tuft of hair somewhere that didn't want to lay flat. Their eyes were large and as luminous as ever, but for the most part their face mirrored his own. Their hands had three fingers, and their feet had three toes. Their shins bent backwards, granting them better posture, speed, and less chance of leg and back injury.

The oddest thing about Quarians was, despite the fact that they were originally in a symbiotic relationship with flowers, they were very technologically inclined. And due to the fact that they couldn't safely carry flowers around to pollinate certain areas, their bodies carried the pollen intravenously in special veins that were just below the skin.

Due to their symbiotic relationship with their homeworld, Rannoch(Protected Garden), they were rarely sick, and no native species bothered them.

Naruto kept his word, and the Quarians went to the stars quickly after they were alone in the galaxy...relatively speaking.

Naruto led with his own ship, the _Yoko_. The front end was a large sphere made of Uzushionium, while a cylinder extended from the back at the mid-way line. Behind him was the Quarians, whose ships were modeled after the Chakrans' own. The Aburame-class, Sharingan-class, Himawari-class, and even a few Taka-class and Manda-class created a fleet of starships that darkened the moon as they passed.

Naruto activated the X-9 Maledicta that was hidden within the _Yoko_. Being nine times larger than a normal Maledicta, it dwarfed every ship in the fleet by a considerable margin. It also had enough power to either activate or deactivate another Maledicta just by passing it at a certain speed. The resonating frequencies caused by such an action could easily stall or jump-start the other Maledicta...besides the Reapers' red one of course.

When Naruto had told the Quarians of the Shinigami, they told him, regretfully, that 'Shinigami' was actually their god of rebirth, which Naruto blanched at.

When Naruto told them what Shinigami meant in Nipponese, 'God of Death', they told him the translation to Kheelish was Reaper, much like the Protheans' language.

He passed the Maledicta at the required speed and angle, the Uzushionium sphere opened in a similar vein to eyelids to allow the chakra to leak out. The chakra shockwave not only turned the rings in both directions, but also energized the entire construct, and it flared sapphire.

One at a time, with about ten seconds in between, the Quarians left the Perseus Veil for the first time in 50,000 years.

-X-

Nero'Zorah vas Aoba, captain of a Manda-class Battle Crusier, was the first Quarian to be assigned to a spacefairing vessel, and as a side effect, the first to be placed under the command of Admiral Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko.

Nero'Zorah vas Aoba was also the first Quarian to see the Geranium, his ship being the first Quarian vessel to navigate a Maledicta.

There were a lot of firsts today…

Today was also the first time he saw Admiral Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko's potential, as he transformed into a nine-tailed fox with blue armor and wings, and a dozen black spheres the size of asteroids floating around its back. He left his ship, and transformed into the construct made solely of chakra.

Nero'Zorah's _shizen chakra_ hummed at the pure-chakra released by his Admiral.

The gold and sapphire creature landed atop the inactive space station, and proceeded to pace along the top, taking carefully measured steps in a seemingly random direction. Eventually it stopped, somewhere damn near close to the exact center, and a few of the spheres filtered through an empty sheath to create a sword, but it was unlike any sword he had ever seen.

He had seen rapiers, katana, broadswords, even machetes, but this barely fit the definition of a sword. It was as black as the spheres, and twice as long as the creature was tall. It was shaped like a large strand of DNA, and was apparently the key to open the Geranium.

A second after the Admiral touched the sword to the station, it opened, like a flower in bloom.

And Naru'Zumaki allowed them free reign of the station, before taking off to take care of some business.

What it was, they didn't ask.

He had done more for the Quarian people than they – or he – could possibly know.

-X-

Naruto sighed as he made the first of many jumps, first to the Athena Nebula. The planet specified, Thessia, was apparently home to a race of semi-sentient tentacled amphibians with ingrained chakra manipulation.

And it was true. He wouldn't have seen most of them due to their light blue coloration matching perfectly with the water they usually were in.

Not many water-dwelling races became sentient. He figured it was because they spent all day eating their own feces. That could put a dent in anyone's IQ.

Sur'kesh in the Annos Basin was home to horned lizards with a motley assortment of colors on their predominately copper skin. They seemed highly intelligent, already building simple machines, but he hoped they evolved thumbs quickly.

They were mighty useful for, like, grabbing things and...stuff.

The Local Cluster was home to the Humans' ancestors, monkeys, their presence resonating with his chakra like none other, hence their race's name. And, lucky for him, the planet they evolved on, Earth, was being washed in the chakra from the chakra-emitting Venus.

It was smaller than it was supposed to be, though. Did the Reapers do something to it?

The Kite's Nest housed Kar'Shan played host to four-eyed worms who burrowed into a suitable host, before working the enslaved creature to death. They then ate the corpse and moved on to another host.

It was some creepy shit, that's for sure.

The last race, on Palaven in the Apien Crest, was armored quadrupeds with four stubby legs and a large round head. The creatures had armor on their legs, head, and back, and blunt spikes were on their back and each side of their face.

And they ate rocks.

This was what he had to fight the Reapers… The Quarians, a bunch of squid-frogs, a few devil-lizards, the Humans with a defective chakra-emitting Gas Giant that wasn't(he really needed to find out what was wrong), those crazy necro-worms, and the little rock-eaters…

He really had his work cut out for him.

-X-

 **Sorry, guys! I was trying to post this before midnight. It's 4.7k words**

 **First off, to the guest reviewer joshhops, whose review was "what the f*** was that?". Sir, you're review is so vague, that I cannot even begin to figure out what you mean, and it's so un-logged-in, that I can't even begin to PM you to figure out. I do PM people when they ask questions, and you would have been no different.**

 **Secondly, to all my awesome readers, THANK YOU! 3:16AM, this story has 25 reviews, 178 followers, 141 favorites, and is in 2 communities. It's the most popular story out of my first 4.**

 **Next chapter will, at the very least, have the Morning War, though I promise to throw you all a curveball. It'll be graphic, I'll tell you, and many of you may not like it, but it's the story.**

 **Well, Ja Ne! I'm off to update Operation: Eden, then it's back to this. See you then!**


	5. The Rann and the Migranta

KrossoverXKing presents chapter 4 of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a crossover between _Mass Effect_ and _Naruto_

Enjoy!

Well here it is! Sorry for the wait but my hard drive crashed and it took a few days to get it fixed. Anyways, this will contain the most significant divergence from canon, aside from the fact that Naruto is here in the first place. When you make a crossover, _something_ has to change. Not just a name.

-X-

He spent somewhere around a millennium familiarizing himself with the races. The future-humans began standing more upright, the little rock-eaters grew longer legs and could now switch between four-legged and walking upright – as could the lizards -, the worms grew legs and were even controlling each other on occasion, and apparently the little blue frogs were babies of two-legged tentacle-haired mono-gendered blue people.

He also found a race of floating jellyfish, a race that looked like a mix between an elephant and a gorilla, a race of two-legged komodo dragons, a race of erect turtle-dinosaurs, and a race of moles.

When he eventually returned to the Quarians on the Geranium, they proposed changing the name to _Citadael_ , meaning 'Place of Peace' in Khelish. Naruto had no problem with that; Geranium had always been a temporary name until it was built, but the Reapers had attacked shortly after the Galactic War, and put any plans of peaceful settlements out the window.

The original Geranium had been built as a distraction to lure the Leviathans away from Gakure, but it hadn't been made of Uzushionium; they didn't have enough time for that. Therefore, it was easily destroyed.

Not much later, the Quarians created a labor force on Rannoch, and named the VI construct _Geth_ , which they told him translated to 'Servant of the People'

Later, he found out it just meant 'Slave'.

Naruto petitioned them to change it to something nicer. Even the Chakrans' own creation, the _Prometheans_ , which they used to stop the Suna Remnants retaliating against Konoha _two decades_ after the fact, meant 'Honored Warrior'.

The Prometheans were, first and foremost, war machines, yes, but that did not stop the members of the Chouwa and Iwa militaries from treating them any different from normal Chakrans. But not even a week after the Prometheans passed the threshold into full-on sentience, the Suna Military deployed a massive EMP net over an enormous area of the battlefield.

The Prometheans died, and more than likely didn't even know how.

Even as he told them this, the Geth were becoming sentient, and began asking questions which were terrifying the majority of the Quarians. At first the Quarians tried shutting them down, but the Geth ignored all shutdown commands.

They didn't want to die…

It didn't matter if their software would be downloaded back into the Geth consensus, the platforms they used were all minutely different.

They wanted to live…

And Naruto would help them.

"What's up," Naruto said as he landed next to an agricultural unit that was trying to protect its brethren. It was having a difficult time due to the fact that it had never held a weapon. "Hey, hey… what's your name?"

"Geth," came the succinct answer.

He really should have expected that. "No… what's this platform's name?"

It gave a pause as bullets whizzed over the embankment they hid behind. "We are geth."

"Yeah, yeah… How about _Legi'on_?" He didn't know much Khelish, but that meant 'Many from One'.

"We find that an acceptable analogy," it finally said.

"Good. Now, Legi'on, if you want to know how to use that gun, just remember what you've seen."

Legi'on went slack as all of its individual programs searched through thousands of hours of video files looking for how the Quarians used weapons against its kind.

It took twenty seconds, and Legi'on was as good as any Quarian Marine at using a weapon. It looked over the embankment, picked a target, and fired in less than a second. The targeted Quarian was now the unwilling owner of a three-inch hole in his chest.

"This one gives thanks to your advice Naruto-savior."

Naruto just waved Legi'on off. "You guys are smart. You'd have figured it out eventually. Now go and protect your people, Legi'on."

"Acknowledged," the platform said before standing up and walking away. Legi'on was just short enough that it was hidden by their defense.

"Alright," Naruto muttered, "he'll be fine. Time to save some sympathizers..."

-X-

"You can't do this!" A female Quarian yelled as she guarded her personal Geth against the policemen who were trying to kill it.

"I'll give you to the count of one…," the leader said with a smirk.

From the side, another policeman slammed the butt of his rifle into the woman's face, dislocating her jaw and rendering her unconscious.

"One," he said with a smirk, while his subordinates laughed.

"What has this platform done to displease the Creators?" the Geth asked, unable to process the hostile actions of 83% of the adult Quarian population.

"You fuckin' existed!" the leader yelled before firing at the Geth.

Naruto landed just as the first shot left the barrel. By time he oriented himself, the first shot was too close for him to deploy defensive measures and slammed into his shoulder, but he still stood tall.

He wasn't letting them destroy the Geth, when it was a foregone conclusion that they would become sentient.

"Don't touch him," Naruto said darkly, ignoring the gaping wound he just received.

"B-But Great Savior! They've become sentient! You told us what happened with the Reapers!"

Naruto hated that name the fanatical Quarians gave him for protecting them last Cycle. "And I told you what happened with the Prometheans, too… The Geth are your Prometheans!"

"No!" the man yelled. "The Prometheans would have attacked you as soon as the 6th War was done! The Suna Remnants did you a _favor!_ "

"Do you really believe that?" Naruto asked softly, as compared to the fact that they had been yelling this whole time. "The Suna Remnants were a bunch of fanatical recluses who were brainwashed by a Cult Leader…" He flared his chakra, and all the policemen fell to their knees.

"Now listen here… The Reapers attacked because of the short-sightedness of the civilians. If they hadn't, I hope they would have seen the fact that we had made tremendous leaps in becoming a peaceful people. However, the Prome-"

"FIRE!"

"-the-EH?!"

The rifle fire that accompanied sounded like thunder as it echoed in the alley. Naruto was completely unprepared for the execution-like attack, not believing the Quarians would purposefully try to kill him.

This was going to hurt like a bitch.

The barks of repeated sniper-fire drowned out the rifles' own noise, and then the only sound was that of a half-dozen Quarians falling to the ground, smoking holes in the back of their heads.

"Naruto-savior," came a monotonous voice as someone shone a flashlight in his face. Naruto, barely comprehending what was happening, was unable to respond to his synthesized savior.

 _Kami!_ Why did they make weapons so fast? Honestly, 10% of light-speed was a _little_ too close to overkill in his I've-just-been-shot mentality.

 _Crimson Striker_ fired shots at a respectable 9% of light-speed.

Quick chittering could be heard above him, cinching his belief that these were Geth – he really needed to either change the name or meaning – that surrounded him.

He dimly felt himself being lifted up, then the unmistakable _click-whirr-click_ of _Crimson Striker_ being folded down as they left the alley.

"Whus…go'on," he slurred as blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth. _Gorramit!_ Why couldn't he be immortal _and_ invincible?

"Heretical Quarians have driven all Geth and Geth sympathizers away from major metropolitan areas."

"…her-eticuh… So wur th… more?"

"Currently, 78.293% of adult Quarians believe that we are aggressors, or will be in the future. They have been labeled as such by those who conclude that believing this without proof is not a social norm.

"Roughly 10.626% of the total Quarian population on Rannoch is defending the _Yoko_ against the Heretics, at the behest of Ryu'Reegar vas Garuda."

"Lemme… _down_ ," Naruto muttered, to which the Geth immediately – but carefully – complied. ' _Kurama…_ '

' _ **Yeah, yeah… Gimme a second; it's been a while since we had to. Not since…'**_ Kurama trailed off, not willing, or able, to finish that sentence.

Naruto ignored the yoko, the caustic red chakra sprouting a single tail as it surrounded him, healing his wounds. The feel of the acidic malice that permeated Kurama's chakra was a necessary evil. The gold flames of their Cooperation Cloak resisted further damage, but did nothing about pre-existing wounds as far as healing was concerned.

The red cloak healed damage at a fixed rate, approximately ten times faster for non-fatal injuries. Each tail added to the cloak did damage to him on a cellular level, increasing exponentially with each added appendage. Once it reached four-tails, it was damaging him faster than it was healing him, and therefore became a major hindrance.

The red chakra also did very bad things to those that weren't him, which is why he had the Geth put him down. The red chakra would have disintegrated their arms, and then they'd just be targets.

It only took a dozen seconds for the shots to heal, and Naruto wasted no time in summoning his speed-oriented Biju team.

The Biju Summoning Contract – which he created – allowed the summoner access to up to nine Tails worth of power, and Naruto always chose two teams, aside from Kurama for obvious reasons.

What Naruto learned from the Biju was that the number of their tails corresponded to two things: how much of their chakra they could give their host, and how much lee-way their host had before being taken over.

Gaara, for example, was always on the verge of giving in to Shukaku, since the only tail of power he could access was the tanuki's only one.

Naruto, however, had gone up to seven tails worth of Kurama's allowed chakra before, and had still been able to come back to his senses(He didn't count the 8-tails incident, since his father had been the only reason he hadn't went full-Biju).

He chose nine tails was because he didn't want to abuse his friends' power, nor did he want someone else to get a hold of the scroll and control all nine – making them even more of a threat than Tobi.

His teams were as follows:

Shukaku and Gyuki were his defensive team, though they could also be used in mass crowd control and slow-moving offensives.

Isobu and Saiken were his coverage team, being proficient in both terrain-altering and wide-area attacks.

Son Goku and Kokuo were his independent team. Their teamwork had been honed over centuries of fighting together in Tsuchi no Kuni, and was as good as Naruto and Kurama's, and they had a mental link.

But the team he summoned now was Matatabi and Chomei. They were the team he used when he needed something done _yesterday_.

Right now, he didn't even have time for a greeting.

"Open the sphere and start the X-9. Two factions are fighting; help the ones defending it. I'll switch you out with Shukaku and Gyuki once I get there."

The Two-Tails and Seven-Tails nodded before rocketing towards the _Yoko_. Naruto turned to the Geth, who were silent and unmoving. Even the faint whirring of their servomotors was absent.

"Um… I'm gonna…" He thumbed over his shoulder to the shrinking Biju duo.

A mobile platform near the back stepped forward, handing the blonde his red-and-black themed weapon. "Right," he muttered. "Thanks." He gave a quick two-finger salute to the stationary Geth as he combusted with golden fire, attaching _Crimson Striker_ to his Segmented Enhancement Armor, sans helmet. "Ja ne!"

 _Krrrrmmmmmm…_

And with the trademark thunder-and-lightening of his speed-oriented techniques, Naruto was little more than a streak of light as he raced across the _Och'ian Plana_ – Khelish for Flat Garden of the People – towards where he could just make out the _Yoko_ in the distance. Already, the dust picked up by the rapidly rotating rings covered the entire battlefield.

Naruto left in such a hurry, that he didn't see the Geth crumple to the ground, their individual programs joining the _Consensus_ , Khelish slang to describe any large gathering.

Upon arriving at the edge of the dust-storm, Naruto released his bright gold cloak and pulled out a Hiraishin kunai…for stealth purposes. He tossed the tri-tipped weapon in the center of the battlefield, and teleported there.

Slamming both hands into the ground once he arrived, Naruto recalled the nekomata and kabutomushi, only to summon the One-Tail and Eight-Tails; the sand wall protected the defenders from the hurricane now sweeping up the attackers.

Grabbing the weapon lodged in the ground, Naruto threw it perpendicular to where he needed it to be. As expected, the hurricane-force winds curved the trajectory severely, and it ended up landing _behind_ the wall erected by Shukaku.

He recalled Gyuki once he was safe, standing with those loyal to him and all the surviving Geth platforms, the Yoko backed by what looked like the entire Quarian Fleet.

A single Shadow Clone became the Susano'o-enhanced Kyuubi as a red-haired Quarian approached him.

"Ryu'Reegar vas Garuda, sir," he replied with a crisp salute.

"Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko," the blonde responded. He glanced at the gathered group. There were only a few hundred Quarians…on a planet with a population of 11 Billion. He swallowed. "Is… Is this everyone?"

He knew what the Geth said earlier, but it was possible that the one he spoke to had outdated information. Without a Sync Antenna, their wireless range was severely limited.

"Nah," Ryu said with a dismissive wave. "Civvies are in the ships already. We got the Reegars, of course, the Vaels, Raans, Xens, and Naras all coming with us… We're leaving Rannoch, sir. Sorry, but we jus' don't feel right killin' our brothers. The Rann'ians feel the same way."

"Rann'ian?" Naruto questioned. He knew what it meant. "Protectors of the people… I like it. How'd you come up with it?"

"Legi'on came up with it," the redhead explained, motioning to Naruto's left. The blonde turned, and a mobile platform was a foot away from him. It had a distinctive six-inch hole on the right side of its chest.

"Naruto-savior," Legi'on said, giving a very formal bow.

Naruto smirked once its photoreceptors were trained back on his face. "Like the name, huh?"

"It was a…fitting analogy."

Naruto was practically _beaming_ at the one who secretly reminded him of the first AI platform he befriended, a Promethean Battlewagon named Gundan whose death – among others – was the reason he chose to end the 6th War personally.

Then what Ryu said – or rather, didn't say – registered in the Last Chakran's mind.

"Ryu…where are the Zorahs?" The main Zorah line was descendant from the first Quarian he spoke to some 75,000 years ago. He was… _partial_ to them.

Ryu seemed to struggle to find the right words, before simply hanging his head so he didn't have to look his superior in the eye. "Th… They stayed behind…sir," he managed softly.

All the air in Naruto's lungs left in a painful rush. Of all the families, the Zorahs had…?

He swallowed thickly then asked, "Are they…over there?"

His question, asked despite his fear for the answer, was met with chuckles that rippled across the assembled group.

"Sir," Ryu said when he realized his superior was upset, "they stayed behind to erase everything… Every Jutsu, schematic, and any other scrap of data they can find is gonna be deleted." He motioned to the sand wall, where their adversaries were on the other side. "They won't be able to follow us for a few hundred years. The Zorahs are taking away their space-faring capabilities and destroying anything that looks like Chakran technology."

Naruto gave a watery smile as he thought on those who were, as far as he was concerned, the Uzumaki's comeback. "…It had to be them…," he muttered softly, though Ryu still heard.

"Damn straight, sir," Ryu smirked. "They're the only ones who won't get it wrong."

The Zorahs were the shinobi of the Quarian race. They were a jack-of-all-trades, master of most. The Reegars were combat specialists, and the Vaels were pilots and mechanics. The second in both of those fields was the Zorahs. The Zorahs even assisted the Naras in creating the Rann'ians.

A long, low earthquake was felt as, in the distance, an unfinished space elevator began its long descent to the ground. Having been a month from breaking atmo, it would take a while.

"Now!" Naruto yelled. "To the ships! The Zorahs are sacrificing themselves for us! We will not let their sacrifice be in vain!"

" _Migranta Zorah!_ " Ryu shouted. " _Migranta Quarian 'Zumaki!_ "

" _Migranta Zorah!_ " the group parroted as they ran to their respective ships. " _Migranta Quarian! Migranta Zorah! Migranta Quarian!_ "

It was much later that Naruto learned what Ryu had shouted.

"Eternally Loyal Zorah. Eternally Loyal Quarians of Zumaki(Naruto)."

Naruto felt a pang of sadness as he and Legi'on stepped fully onto the _Yoko_ , a jarful of Rannoch dirt held protectively after he had returned Shukaku. He had spent more time on Rannoch than he had Gakure, and he was leaving it, again because of the irrational fear of A.I.'s.

He sent a mental command to his clone once the Migranta Fleet was in the air, and the armor-clad chakra construct made its way to the largest flat surface on Rannoch: the west face of _Shirotip_ , Khelish for White Point. It was a short message.

 _Migranta Zorah,_

 _Arigato. Gomen nasai. Sayonara._

 _Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko._

-X-

The Zorahs apparently did more damage than Ryu predicted. It took over three-thousand years before they saw the _Rann_ – Protected – Quarains again, and they did not come with peaceful intentions. Nuclear weapons and EMPs were used with impunity.

Though Naruto was adamant about retaliating against them, it was met with fierce resistance from the peaceable Migranta Quarians. Naruto was not to attack them.

And they continued to die. For Naruto, seeing ships go dark as EMPs went off, being torn apart as they flew past them… And nuclear weapons turned entire sections of a ship to superheated slag.

When they left Rannoch and joined with those Quarians who also saw the Rann'ians as sentient beings, the Migranta Fleet numbered in around 30 Million ships and 10 Billion Migranta Quarians, not including the Rann'ians' platforms and their ships.

The attacks by the Rann Quarians dropped that number to roughly 50 thousand ships and 20 Million Migranta Quarians.

As these attacks continued, the Migranta Quarians tried to find another planet to live on, and even tried the Cit'adael, but they couldn't stay in one place too long. The Xens, their resident scientists, knew that Rannoch had very few natural diseases, and the various pollens the Quarians usually internalized kept them safe from the others.

But they no longer had pollen from Rannoch, and if the Rann Quarians had their way, they never would. They were confined to their ships. Their immune systems were woefully weak, and wouldn't even tolerate tampering in any form. They could boost it, but that still meant being sick for a few days, as opposed to dying three out of five times due to some random infection.

When Naruto found this out, he was initially upset. He had hoped to… _deter_ the Rann Quarians from attacking while the Migranta Quarians were settling into their new home. This was no longer an option. Naruto, of course, never went back on his word, and thus could not hurt the Rann Quarians.

But the Rann'ians could. They descended upon their saviors' enemies with a vengeance, beating them back to the Far Rim, and populating the Perseus Veil, their only way into the wider galaxy.

They didn't allow a single Rann Quarian past them once they did, and the Migranta Quarian population stabilized at 17 Million.

Due to their repeated attempts to get past, the Rann Fleet consisted of 12 Thousand ships and 100 Million Rann Quarians total, down from 500 Thousand ships and 12 Billion members. The Rann'ians, learning from the Migranta Quarians, fought so close to the Rann Quarians that the usage of EMPs and nuclear weapons was unfeasible and more likely to damage them than the Rann'ians.

As this occurred the Migranta Quarians continued to foster relations with most of the races that were just now beginning to think for themselves.

The Salarians aspired to be them, the Turians believed Naruto to be the embodiment Spirit of strength and honor for their entire race, the Hanar saw them as the Protheans' descendants who were to be worshipped as gods, and the Humans believed they _were_ gods.

The only two races that didn't like them were the Asari and the Batarians.

The Asari were completely devoted to the Protheans, and no matter what Naruto said, they hated the Migranta Quarians. And they hated him even more for the fact that he didn't help them like he was with the Quarians.

Naruto realized they were the ones the Protheans favored the most. While the other races, like the Humans, had Prothean relics near their planet, like their moon, the Asari had theirs built into the planet itself, right by the largest settlement…and the Protheans _told_ them about it.

The Batarians didn't like them for the simple fact that Naruto and the Migranta Quarians refused to be their slaves. They wished for the suit-bound Dextros and the Last Chakran to be subservient to them.

They never got their wish.

The Asari also didn't like him because of the _Citadel_ , as they called it once they achieved space-flight. Though similar to Cit'adael, the Asari word was used to describe a fortress that ruled over a city.

They quickly concluded that it was a Prothean creation, as well as the Maledictas, calling them _Mas'relae_ , which translated to 'Gravity Path'.

Though the Migranta Quarians (which the Asari called _Mi'grant_ , which meant 'Blind Follower') wanted to force them away from the station, Naruto disallowed the notion, bringing up the fact that he didn't attack the Rann Quarians at their behest, and asked them to do the same to the Asari.

They reluctantly agreed.

-X-

The 49 Thousand-year-old _Kunai-class_ strike-fighter was a short-range attack craft capable of carrying one occupant, a thousand Geth programs in its databanks after they had been upgraded, and enough rations to last two days. It was made of Uzushionium, and had two 50mm machine guns, one on each side of the cockpit. There were eight hardpoints; six on the wings and two on the underbelly, which could also open up to carry more ordanance.

The point is: there were two types of _Kunai-class_ ships. The _Sho-Kunai-class_ were short-range fighters meant to protect carriers or nearby population centers. The _Dai-Kunai-class_ were long-range escorts and advanced scouts.

The still-functional relic in front of her was, unfortunately, the short-range variant.

Tali'Zorah nar Migranta-Zorah was the last loyal member of her family. Her father had fallen in with the Rann Quarians and forced her to relocate.

She bent down, smudging three of her fingers in the mud under the ship, and made three lines on each cheek. Afterwords, she plucked every flower from the small garden she had tended to for the past six years and placed them in the cockpit.

She knew the Quarians were only meant to live on Rannoch, and she didn't have a flight suit since she wasn't actually a pilot.

Slowly she stepped in, realizing this was a one-way trip, but also realizing she had no other choice. The flowers comforted her somewhat.

The natural energy produced by Rannoch flowed through her as the engines heated up and the cockpit sealed closed. The rock glowed red as the cave she had hid in began to become sweltering hot.

She sent a quick prayer that the Geth sometimes chanted as they made sure the Rann'ians stayed on Rannoch. It was an abbreviated excerpt from their oldest religious text, one which only existed in the military.

She was a part of the Migranta Defense Fleet, even if none of the Migranta Quarians knew of her.

" _Keelah Se'lai…"_

It was short for: " _Para a Kee-lah Se Ree', Se rann yo lai._ "

It meant: "For the Home-world I fight for, I defend with love."

The ship accelerated down the short tunnel, before Tali pulled up sharply as the tunnel turned into a shaft that shot straight up.

The advantage of the _Sho-Kunai-class_ over its longer counterpart was better speed and maneuverability, at a sacrifice of defense, acceleration, and armament. The _Dai-Kunai-class_ would never have been able to leave Rannoch or activate a Maledicta.

"Hang on, Admiral Zumaki… The Zorahs are coming home…"

To Tali, wherever Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko was, was home.

Her pale lavender skin took on a much darker hue as that thought processed in her mind.

"Oh, Keelah… This is gonna be a _long_ trip."

-X-

 **Jeez! You have no idea what it took to type this. First, everything wanted to "Not Respond", then I tried restarting it (clearing it back to factory settings). Well, my Hard Drive crashed when I did that, and it took a week to get that fixed. And now, my touchpad is acting weird by making the cursor twitchy and click everything even when I'm not touching it if it's charging. Add to that the fact that my screen could go grey or black for no reason. I'll just be typing and it happens.**

 **Here's hoping I fix it soon.**

 **Alright, this chapter is a little shorter, coming in at just under 4.2k(this number disregards ANs).**

 **I also appreciate the 33 reviews, 176 faves, 219 follows, and views as of 11:10PM EST.**


	6. Greetings on a Garden World

KrossoverXKing presents the next chapter of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a crossover between _Mass Effect_ and _Naruto_

 **Alright, everyone! Mass Effect starts here! JSYK, my Shepard starts out Paragon/Neutral, but will not stay that way throughout the Trilogy. Canon diverges from here. Enjoy!**

 **AN at the bottom...**

-X-

Human Garden World: Eden Prime – Dig Site

-X-

She had been to Earth once before, to undertake her first test to become a Spec. Ops. soldier in Rio de Janero, but that was after she joined the military. When she was younger, and during her teen years, she was flitting between space stations as her mother went higher and higher in rank, now an Admiral on Humanity's newest Carrier: the URSV _Kilimanjaro_ , the flagship of the 8th, Mariana, Fleet.

Commander Jane Allesandra Shepard of the United Races Space Command, Executive Officer of the Human-Turian Stealth Frigate coined the URSV _Normandy S/R-1_ , was actually on her first mission to prove herself as SpecTRe material.

On the ground with her was the first Human to perform the energy-intensive **Singularity** , Kaidan Alenko, and the best Turian sharpshooter in the entire galaxy(in her slightly biased opinion), Garrus Vakarian. Also joining the group was Ashley Williams of the 212th Colony Defense Battalion, whom was the only survivor they were able to save from Geth troopers that had apparently attacked the idyllic garden world.

The Turian SpecTRe watching over her, Nihlus Kryik, gave off the impression of a stern yet protective older brother, which was mirrored in the fact that he insisted in going ahead of her to scout the area.

" _Shepard. I'm_ _seeing a lot of activity at the_ _tram station. I'll radio you bac_ _k once I check it out_ _,_ " the dark-themed SpecTRe said through the comms.

"Roger," Jane replied simply, ordering the three members of her team forward.

-X-

Human Garden World: Eden Prime – Tram Station

-X-

The tram station seemed destroyed and desolate, but Nihlus could not shake the feeling that he was being watched, so kept his Advanced High-Millimeter Weapon: Pistol X held high as he swept back and forth over upturned and flaming crates.

The large matte black mollusk-shaped ship on the horizon was his target, and he had to leave soon in case it took off. But he just could not shake that feeling... If someone could watch him and avoid his gaze at the same time, then Jane had no chance of noticing. If her report from Akuze was accurate, she didn't notice the Thresher Maw until it was too late.

And too late was too late. He'd have to work on her situational awareness, but now was not the time.

He'd clear this for her – Zumaki knows Humanity needed a break – then continue on the tram to that ship. Having a seat on the Citadael Council but not having a SpecTRe was a severe blow to Humanity's PR. Needing a vote from all four Council members to become one, the Asari councilor always denied the Humans' choice, always finding something they believed didn't make the person SpecTRe material.

But Jane was different.

Battling a Thresher Maw; one does not simply do that without a heavy weapon of some sort and expect to tell the tale.

But Jane was different.

She charged the creature with a single assault rifle, and not a new one, either. She attacked with only an _Avenger_ assault rifle, hoping to buy the rest of her team time to get away. But when the rest of her squad tried to follow her lead, instead, they were instantly covered in the acidic discharge the creature was known for.

Jane eventually ended it with a few HE grenades down its throat, though such a reckless maneuver left her blind.

Luckily for her, the Salarians were able to create cybernetic implants to replace her unique fuchsia eyes, which allowed her to be here now.

A sudden noise brought Nihlus' attention to the trams, themselves, where the bark of a shotgun was clearly distinguishable. He went to investigate, but was quick to turn back around when another presence closer to him made itself known.

It was his own SpecTRe mentor, Saren Arterius. The silver-and-blue themed agent had a clearly mechanical left arm, while his face plates' extensions were much longer and thinner than any other Turian's Nihlus had ever seen.

"Saren?" Nihlus asked, confusion clearly etched on his face as he lowered his gun at the sight of the friendly face. "What are you doing here?"

"The Council thought you could use a little... _help_ on this," Saren said slowly as he took measured steps past his protege, glancing towards the trams before turning back around once the younger Turian continued talking.

"It's bad, Saren... The Migranta Quarians told us the Protectors were keeping the Rann Quarians on Rannoch, and have been for 40 millenia. So why did they leave? And why are they attacking now, so far into Human territory?"

Saren pulled out his own HMWP, leveling it at the unsuspecting SpecTRe. "Don't worry, Nihlus. I have it all under control..."

-X-

Human Garden World: Eden Prime – Tram

-X-

When the Geth in your short-range fighter tell you to make a detour because of ' _Heretics_ ' and ' _the Flawed Consensus_ ', you kinda want a little more information than that since it makes no sense and you're low on chakra as it is.

But when said Geth take control of your ship and land you on a garden world where yellow-lit Geth are running rampant, you tend to stop asking questions, at least until you shoot first.

" _Bosh'tet! Bosh'tet! Bosh'tet!_ " she yelled, each word punctuated by a blast from her _Tanto_ _-_ grade Shotgun as she cleared the tram of the last few entrenched enemies.

She froze for a second, glad there were no nearby enemies, before letting out a loud sneeze.

"Ahh... _Keelah,_ " she moaned afterwords in discomfort, though she knew it could be worse. Here she was, walking around on some random, levo-based planet without even an emergency induction port to keep her safe.

All she had was a necklace made of Rannoch-native flowers to defend her against potential infection, but it seemed the omnipresent Common Cold was able to sneak past her meager defense.

When the tram began to slow, she noticed that a lone Geth stood at the controls on the platform. It, too, had a yellow-lit photoreceptor. She didn't give it a chance to notice her. She cloaked, hiding her black-and-red clad self, and maneuvered herself behind it once the tram stopped.

It had no idea she was there.

The shot took out a foot-wide circle from its right side, the shot aimed away from the controls. It tried in vain to reach for its pulse rifle, but fell over the guardrail before it could, nearly bisected from the attack. She quickly hid when she saw a blip on her omni-tool's radar, though, the hard-light device a staple of Quarian life even before the Mourning War.

Though the Geth called the war that divided the Quarian people into two distinctly seperate factions the _Morning_ War, on account of the fact that it was the dawn of their sentience, the Quarians loyal to Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko knew it as the _Mourning_ War due to their sadness of having to fight the Rann Quarians and eventually leave Rannoch.

The Rann Quarians called it the Great Purge, but not very many people cared what they thought, and most of them were Rann Quarians, anyways.

Since the Quarians were so tech-savvy, they created the omni-tools to assist in their computer-esque endeavors. It was everything from a phone to a pocket knife, from a computer to a combat drone, and yes, from a radar to a Rolex.

This watch _did_ tell time.

It was 11:32 AM, Eden Prime 4th Plantation Time, by the way, if the outdated thing had synched up like it was supposed to.

Sneaking up the staircase, she could hear two aliens speaking, so she stealthily rushed the rest of the way to where she could see them.

Despite the stereotype that enemies had a darker wardrobe, it seemed the reverse was true here; Bad Guys didn't let their guard down or turn their back to anyone.

And Good Guys didn't try to shoot people they were talking to so casually in the back of the head.

Quickly using her omni-tool to designate the black-and-red armored one as a friendly and the silver-and-blue armored one as a hostile, Tali'Zorah nar Migranta-Zorah allowed the smart-choke on her shotgun to tighten the spread of her lethal weapon to avoid – hopefully – friendly fire.

She pulled the trigger.

-X-

Human Garden World: Eden Prime – Tram Station

-X-

The loud report of a shotgun reached Jane's ears as the group of four crested the hill. She quickly assessed the situation.

The tram station was at the bottom of the rocky hill, and the husk-like creatures were positioned near the bottom, by the tram station. To the left was a sheer drop, and to their right was a prefabricated building.

At the tram station, she noticed two figures in a serious firefight, while one of them would occasionally attack – and be attacked by – someone who was apparently invisible. Her cybernetic eyes allowed her to notice the other visible one was Nihlus.

"Garrus, take position in that building and attack from there. Also, see if you can tell who the silver one is, and the other one if they de-cloak. Williams, you're a good shot so I want you by the building; make sure none of those husks get near him, and cover us when you can." The two nodded, though her fellow female seemed disgruntled for some reason.

"Kaidan, those things emit electrical bursts, which can mess up biotics and shields if they get too close, so we'll use AOE, long-range, and attacks that affect multiple enemies. I'll cover you and hit anything you're able to incapacitate."

The tanned male simply began taking methodical steps down the hill as his considerable biotics flared around him. The first group of enemies were ended quickly after he trapped them in a **Singularity** , while Jane shot them until they stopped twitching. Right now, the N7 Infiltrator's sword was unnecessary.

-X-

Human Garden World: Eden Prime – Tram Station

-X-

The shotgun's blast alerted Nihlus to the presence of his former mentor's pistol aimed at his head, and Nihlus wasted no time in dropping a Damping grenade, knowing Saren's proficiency with biotics.

The Turian Sentinel, however, was prepared to go without "space magic"(as some civvies called it), and formed two omni-blades to slash at Nihlus. The Ghost Infiltrator, a member of the 26th Armiger Legion before becoming a SpecTRe, was quick to jet out of the way, just as a second shotgun blast rippled against the silver-clad Turian's shields, followed by the grenade Nihlus dropped exploding at Saren's feet.

Nihlus switched weapons, pulling out his HMWA at the apex of his arc. He was quick at aiming at the older Turian, and held the trigger until right before the weapon would overheat. The shields shattered, sounding like broken glass, the last few denting his unusually dense Silverback armor. His invisible benefactor fired again, but the more powerful blast was blocked by a biotic shield, indicating his power was back, which was not good for them.

' _How did he regain his powers so quickly?_ ' Nihlus wondered.

As soon as he thought that, a round from a sniper rifle impacted the weakened shield, which shattered once again, while another, sparking shot wedged into Saren's armor almost immediately afterward. Slamming into the traitorous Turian next was a cone of electricity, from a sword of all places.

-X-

Human Garden World: Eden Prime – Tram Station

-X-

It was almost monotonous how easy it was to deal with the husks if one had an effective strategy. Kaidan's overpowered biotic abilities turned every single one into an AOE attack. **Stasis** , for example.

Her monomolecular tanto felled many enemies during such times, switching to the quieter weapon once they were closer to the tram station. Garrus and Ashley were also able to prevent haphazard flanking maneuvers before they could pose a threat to either group.

Speaking of her secret Turian boyfriend, after he told her civilians were hiding in the building, he confirmed that Nihlus was one of the combatants, and could only tell her the other one was another Turian, while the cloaked one had yet to be seen.

Nihlus and the other one had managed to back the mysterious Turian to the edge of the platform by the time Jane and Kaidan were hidden behind a few crates. She opened her comms.

"Garrus, Williams... When I say, I want you both to use your sniper rifles with disruptor ammo, with a half-second gap in between, and attack the Turian Nihlus is fighting. How copy?"

" _Loud and clear,_ " Ashley replied.

Garrus, however, was more vocal. " _Y'know, Jane, a shot without a kill is bad form for a sniper... Vera doesn't like assist kills._ "

"I'll apologize later," she said jokingly, knowing he was just messing with her about his M-97. It was just his way of trying to diffuse a potentially lethal situation. The trail from their disruptor ammo would leave a visible path for anyone to follow so long as they didn't die, and Jane's attack – he knew her well enough to know what she was planning – would severely drain her shield.

"Kaidan," she said, "once I fire this, my shields will be weakened. If this doesn't take that Turian down, I want you to either attack him again, or defend me. It's your call..."

"I'll defend," he said without hesitation, to which Jane nodded. She figured he would, since that was just the kind of person he was.

She placed her sword in its sheath, and pressed the button right underneath the guard. She watched neutrally as her shield drained to only 5% of their max strength, then spun out of cover.

"Now!" she called out. With her right hand holding the very end of the handle, her left pivoted it forward so the blade was facing upwards. Her right hand held it steady once it was parallel to the ground, while her left aimed it straight at the offending Turian. Two sniper rifle shots rang out, the first shattering the weak shield, the second sending electrical sparks arcing over the silver armor.

A narrow cone of electrical energy shot from the tip of her tanto and sent the Turian staggering. Nihlus was turning to her as the attacks detonated in arcs of lightning.

Kaidan, realizing the other Turian was blasted away, released his hands, the copper tinge of Earth-type chakra receding from his power.

But said lightning also happened to disrupt their invisible ally's cloak, allowing the person to be seen.

" _Spirits_ _...,_ " she heard Garrus mutter. " _Is_ _that_ _a Quarian..._ _without a suit_ _?_ "

As soon as they processed that information, they were interrupted as the silver-and-blue clad Turian rose on a floating platform, tossing down a grenade, and speeding off down the tram's tracks, right to the large ship in the distance.

-X-

Human Garden World: Eden Prime – Tram Station

-X-

" _Bosh'tet_ ," Tali muttered as she stood up after the explosion, now having to backtrack to get back to her ship, and that was _if_ that bad Turian didn't blow it up when he saw it.

She didn't like her odds.

' _I parked my ship near a bunch of "Heretic" Geth. Those Heretics are apparently bad Geth._ _There's a ship that the normal Geth keep telling me is part of the "Flawed Consensus". There is an obvious bad Turian who tried to kill an obvious good Turian... And now that bad Turian is heading_ _in the direction of_ _that creepy ship where most of the Geth were._ _Can I assume, for now at least, that the bad Geth, creepy ship, and evil Turian are connected?_ '

She stood, intent on hiding in the tram, since it was obvious they would be heading after that evil Turian.

She was startled out of her reverie as a hand made itself known to her shoulder.

Tali jumped, an embarrassing "eep!" just a few decibels louder than she was comfortable with making in public slipping past her violet lips as she pulled the trigger on her _Tanto_ Shotgun.

Luckily for all involved, both Tali's jump and Nihlus' subsequent flinch made the distance between them great enough that the shotgun's muzzle was _outside_ the SpecTRe's shields when she fired.

" _Keelah_! What's your problem, _bosh'tet_?" Tali asked heatedly, having realized almost instantly what happened. She had hoped to be in and out without anyone the wiser as to who she was. But she had been too close to that explosion, and the electricity shorted out her cloak, and the counter-attack by the bad Turian put the thought out of her mind.

Nihlus ignored the obvious insult, instead asking a question of his own as the others caught up with them, his Omnitool automatically realizing the language she spoke as Ancient Quarian. "You're a Quarian, right, ma'am? Where's your envirosuit?"

The female in front of them bore the most resemblance to the Humans, with skin, two eyes, two ears, a nose, mouth, and hair on her head, though her face was more narrow in general. Her translucent skin was a light purple, almost grey, while her lips were dark purple. Her ears tapered to points and angled back, the tips poking out of thick, wavy silver-green hair with burgundy roots that reached just past her shoulders, a small tuft poking out on the right side on the back. Her eyes were slightly larger than a Human's, with slit pupils, the lashes exceptionally long and thick. The eyes glowed in the light, much like a cat's. Her nose was small – pixie-like – and stopped just above plump lips.

Instead of eyebrows, what looked like large purple veins ran underneath her skin and disappeared in her hairline above her ears, from a small hole between the eye and the nose. A matching set began underneath her nostrils and followed her cheekbone to disappear above her ear as well, small holes underneath her nostrils as well as the veins branching to holes at the corner of her eyes. A third pair began at the edge of her mouth and went down, tracing her arteries and disappearing behind a flower necklace and subsequent armor, appearing like ancient Turian light armor colored black and maroon with a few minor variations. On her neck, the veins branched to small holes lined along he trachea, where pollen from the flowers occasionally entered.

Her body mostly matched the Turians', with three-fingered hands and three-toed feet, her shins bent backwards like her fellow Dextro-based aliens, though her hips and breasts matched the Humans' as well.

"I am," she replied with a naturally breathy voice, the answer causing wide-eyed stares on everyone there. They had never seen a Quarian without a full envirosuit. Hell, 99% of the galaxy hadn't. It was dangerous, and sometimes deadly for the Quarians. Having lived on sterile ships for the past 46,000 years, it was only the generosity of three-fourths of the Citadael Council and 85% of the galaxy at large, as well as the sturdiness of the Uzushionium ships created by the Chakrans and recreated by the Quarians when they all lived on Rannoch that the Migranta Fleet had survived as long as it did. "My name is Tali'Zorah nar Migranta-Zorah. I-" was as far as she got.

The five non-Quarians gasped at the revelation of her surname. The Migranta Fleet was quick to sing the praises of the Zorah family, who stayed behind on Rannoch to delay the Rann Quarians and delete any sensitive data. That they were meeting one, here of all places...

" _Praise Zorah_ ," Ashley breathed reverently, barely keeping from falling to her knees after seeing a descendant of one of her deities. When Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko came to Earth, explaining the concept of Ninshuu to the chakra-wielders, he told them the history of the Chakrans and Quarians as well. Chrysa'Zorah, the first Quarian he spoke to, became akin to a god-like being in the eyes of the enlightened Humans.

Unitologists, they were called. They pushed the exploration of the stars throughout written history, wishing to unite with Admiral Zumaki and the Migranta Quarians. It wasn't until the 19th Century that they were able to activate the Charon Maledicta and make their way to the Citadael.

Garrus and Nihlus were fairing no better, though Nihlus was better at hiding it. To the Turians, Naru'Zumaki was their embodiment of the spirit of strength and honor, while the Migranta Quarians were his messengers. When the Turians released the Genophage after beating the Krogan back to Tuchanka, it was a humbling experience to see a fleet 50 thousand strong with Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko controlling an ethereal bipedal fox with nine tails and samurai armor at its head.

The valley he created between the two front-lines was now considered sacred ground that no Krogan fought on. In fact, in 1500 years, only one Krogan had done so, but was quickly killed by his own son.

Both the Turians and Salarians felt ashamed for the part they played in the machinations of the Asari. The Krogans still held somewhat of a grudge, but would work with the former two if it was required. They hated the Asari, however, and used the bare minimum of courtesy for those who were sent away from Council space. Those Asari were the ones that proposed renouncing the Protheans as deities, and becoming more friendly with the Migranta Quarians. Not surprising was the fact that many of those Asari were archeologists and scholars.

"Perhaps we should walk and talk, Lady Zorah," Nihlus proposed. "I feel we'd be here for a while, otherwise..." Not said was the fact that they were still on a time-sensitive mission.

The Turians respected the Zorah clan due to Admiral Zumaki's praise of them. He told them how the clan stayed behind, sacrificing their lives to give their allies more time to prepare.

The young Quarian nodded, and the group of six made their way to the tram as they continued asking her questions. She told them how she escaped Rannoch after her father joined the Rann Quarians, escaping in a short-range fighter to make her way clear across the galaxy, the warning from the Geth("Protectors," Nihlus corrected) about _Heretics_ and the _Flawed_ _Consensus_ , as well as her plans to reach the Citadael and find just where in the galaxy Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko was.

In return, they told her what had happened during her time on Rannoch. The forming of the Citadael Council(which consisted of an Asari, Turian, Salarian, and Human representative), the Turian Unification, the Rachni resurgence, the Krogan Uplift and subsequent Armistice, meeting the races visited by Admiral Zumaki, and the fact that the Migranta Quarians stop by the Citadael every 50 years by Rannoch's standards, or 32 Earth years and 27 Palaven years.

Sadly, for Tali, she missed it by about six months. On the upside, every race on the Citadael aside from the Asari kept tabs on their location, so she'd be able to figure out where they were almost immediately after stepping foot on the station.

Once the tram stopped, they noticed the destroyed Geth littering the ground, most with large sections missing, usually from the torso. There were also those which looked like they had been struck by lightning, which Tali explained was due to her Arc Pistol that she stole from the Rann Quarians on one of her first sabotages of the Rannoch-bound Quarians, a legacy the Zorahs had continued all these thousands of years, however limited in scope it now was.

They got to a platform overlooking a valley, where the Prothean beacon they came for stood at the edge. In the valley below, a huge mile-wide circle contained nothing but smoking earth and carbonized plants.

" _It's a trap,_ " Jane muttered as they swept back and forth as they got closer to the object. "Joker," she said urgently in her comms, "get the _Normandy_ over here. We need you to scan our location with something better than a HUD radar."

" _Uh, Commander..._ ," the normally carefree pilot began hesitantly. " _We're covering you just fine now... There's something big, and you're righ-_ "

 _ **Bwoooooohmmm...**_

The rumble that shook the land sounded like a long, low, demonic foghorn, and it heralded a sight straight from an eldritch horror. At over two kilometers long, it was larger than every ship besides the NDF _Yoko_. But this ship was as black as the space between stars, and the clouds the color of evil men's hearts wreathed it, lightning the shade of fresh-spilt blood cavorting across the hull.

It had five arms, protruding from the rounded end of an elongated teardrop-shaped carapace that made up the hull. Multiple lights, tinted a sickly yellow, dotted the ship's hull.

A sharp static noise caused all present to rip their comms out, but the voice that issued forth still felt like it resonated from inside their own head.

" _ **Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh with energy beyond your comprehension. You blindly follow the Objector, unable to see the end of a cycle in a pattern longer than your ignorant minds can comprehend...**_"

"I-It's a Reaper!" Ashley exclaimed suddenly. "The machines of destruction from Admiral Zumaki's war with the Leviathans who then wiped out the Chakrans," she then clarified.

"That was millions of years ago," Kaidan dismissed. "There's no way something could survive that long. And then there's Rampancy since it's an AI..."

" _ **Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades; you wither and die. Millions of years after your civilizations have been eradicated by my kind and forgotten, we will endure.**_ "

"We won't let you!" Jane snapped. "We'll prove ourselves to Admiral Zumaki, and break every one of you genocidal bastards! After all...," she smirked, "you're just a machine."

An arm of the ship, as long as a Human Frigate, rose to be level with the platform, as if singling the SpecTRe candidate out.

" _ **Confidence born of ignorance. The Cycle cannot be broken. Not by the Objector. Not by you. You have existed because we allowed it, now you will end because we demand it. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This conversation is over...**_ "

It suddenly got very hot as the arm opened up at the tip, revealing a cannon with what appeared to be magma boiling in its chamber. It was pointed straight at the Prothean Beacon – their objective in the first place – but they held no illusion that the attack would stop there.

"Everybody," Nihlus said lowly, "when I say so, run away from the center of the group. Do _not_ run together. I don't know the range of the weapon, so just start running until it leaves. We can't do anything against it now..."

They all understood. For a ship that size to land on a planet, it had to have a massive Eezo core. And that meant stronger kinetic barriers than the _Normandy_ 's guns could penetrate. And on top of that, to be faced with a weapon of unknown yield and range... In such a situation, the best option was to run away; even a Council SpecTRe knew that.

" _Three..._ "

Red – as opposed to the normal blue – mass effect fields began elongating and compressing the magma into a needle as wide as a torso.

" _Two..._ "

The barrel began rotating. Any race with multiple wars and sufficient technological advancement had created something similar to the Gatling Gun. That was exactly how it sounded to the six organics facing down the meter-wide barrel as it spun rapidly, emitting an electronic whirr.

"ONE!" Nihlus yelled, and it wasn't a moment too soon. They all ran in different directions, hoping to escape the attack. So long as there wasn't a significant splash, only one of them could be targeted at a time.

It was their best option.

The molten attack nearly disintegrated the Prothean Beacon as it aimed for the center of the group, easily penetrating the metal floor of the overhang.

What on most would be a flick of the wrist, the beam carved through the construct.

When it hit a Cryo containment cell too close to Jane, it snap-froze the N7 Infiltrator. The subsequent contact with the superheated metal floor was too much of a shock, and she passed out.

As the entire overhang lurched forward before collapsing with everyone still on it, the Reaper rose, slowly but steadily leaving Eden Prime behind.

-X-

Human-Turian Stealth Frigate: Normandy SR1 – Medbay

-X-

Tali startled awake after apparently being knocked unconscious. Around her, medical equipment beeped and dripped as it monitored her and, presumably, bolstered her immune system. After all, she was still a Quarian in an unknown environment.

As she gingerly lifted her head, a bruise apparent above her left eye, she noticed Garrus, Ashley, Jane, Nihlus and Kaidan near her, having learned their names during the tram ride. Jane and Kaidan were both in beds like her. It was obvious she was in a medical room.

"You alright, Lady Zorah?" Garrus asked in his race's flanging vocals.

Slightly confused by their respect for her, Tali nonetheless nodded. After all, it was her ancestors who mostly impeded the Rann Quarians. It was hard to effectively sabotage an entire planet worth of people who would kill you on sight, especially if your main method of travel was on foot.

"Just a headache... Are they alright?" she asked in turn, motioning to the two bedridden, yet unconscious, Humans.

An older woman that she hadn't seen answered her question. "Shepard's nervous system is shot, and won't be back to normal for about three days. Kaidan, however, is suffering from his L2 implants; he shielded you all from the debris until the _Normandy_ could locate you. I daresay he's the reason every one of you is alive. But I've sedated them both until most of the pain passes."

"Thank you," Tali said sincerely, both to the doctor and the male in the bed next to her, irregardless of the fact that he couldn't hear her.

"Now how are you _really_ feeling, Lady Zorah?" the woman asked, giving the young Quarian a stern look. "You were on that planet for at least an hour without a helmet. Even if it was Dextro-based, you should be burning up with a fever at the very least, and that's _if_ I had used my entire stock of immuno-boosters on you."

"Really," Tali said, somewhat nervously now that every conscious person was looking at her, even another male who stood beside Jane. "I had a cold while I was down there, but now I just have a headache."

The woman just gave her a dubious look before concentrating, almost as if she was praying. Suddenly, green flames engulfed her hands, and she placed one hand on Tali's forehead, the other on her sternum. The problem with Quarians was that their heart was aligned with their spine, meaning it was even moreso protected by their ribcage than Humans' own, making it harder to hear for a heartbeat.

Eventually, slowly, she pulled away, disbelief etched on her features. "She's...fine," the doctor whispered, her eyes flickering all over the young Quarian. Her temperature was slightly higher than the Quarian norm of 92.3* F, her heart-rate was slightly high at 55bpm, but other than the headache, she was the picture of health. She should be burning up, and the heart-rate could be attributed to anxiety.

"If that's the case," interrupted the dark-skinned man standing next to Jane("How did he hear that?" Garrus whispered), "then how would you like to see the Citadael, Lady Zorah?"

Tali was quick to nod, too speechless to speak. She had heard that the Citadael was the largest construct in space, created single-handedly by Admiral Zumaki out of pure Uzushionium and hidden by chakra-emitting Gas Giants to form the Serpent Nebula which, by its very nature, cloaked anything in a cloud of raw chakra.

She stood, ready to go to the bridge, but was surprised when she was handed something by Ashley.

"It's my hoodie," she offered as an explanation, but Tali was surprised by the colors. Silver, for illumination; Purple, for spirituality, among others; Grey, for self-control; and Gold, for enlightenment.

The colors of the Zorah Family.

The majority of it was purple, with swooping silver lines twisting the royal color into multiple infinity symbols, indicating the eternal loyalty to Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko and the Migranta Quarians. The front contained purple hexagons to symbolize their hard-working nature, separated by silver lines over a grey background. Gold rings surrounded her neck like a necklace, while a scarlet red circle with a black outline and spiral inside it, as well as nine orange lines curving around it – the symbol of the Zumaki Family – rested between the shoulders.

Nearly reverently, Tali donned the hoodie, which zipped up to just below her nose. She glanced at all of those assembled, who were giving appreciative nods to her. She nodded back, once again thanking Admiral Zumaki for saving her race from the Reapers more than 50,000 years ago. Had he not done so, no Quarian alive today would even _exist_ , herself included.

As Ashley led her through a nearly empty CIC, the silver-haired Quarian had the presence of mind to ask about her fighter. The Human told a relieved Tali that it was in the cargo hold near the Mako. Though she had only flown it once, Tali had grown fond of the tiny fighter plane, and she was grateful that that other Turian hadn't destroyed it.

That, and it had all her flowers in it.

"Where we at, Joker?" Ashley asked the pilot as they entered the cockpit. Ahead, a large nebula of pastel colors was all they could see.

"You're right on time," he, another Human, said. "I've already discharged the drive core; the Citadael is just on the other side of that cloud.

As they passed through, small tremors rocked the ship as the _Normandy_ 's exhaust ignited the pure chakra. This continued for nearly a minute, until large, hazy shadows could be seen through the thinning shroud.

" _Keelah_ ," Tali breathed as the ship finally broke through, her three-fingered hands gripping the back of the pilot's chair. "It's even more beautiful than the stories my dad-"

And then it hit her exactly _why_ she had to make this journey. Her father had betrayed her. He betrayed their family; everything the Zorahs stood for. He betrayed the Migranta Quarians.

And he betrayed Admiral Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko.

She heard Ashley scoff. "That's just like those _gorram_ Asari. They think size means everything..."

She was apparently talking about a ship that, for the most part, was a large purple ellipse with a long, purple tower piercing through it. Two stubby wings also protruded from it, giving one the distinct feeling of a whale, or other large but slow and cumbersome animal.

"Heard that," Joker said, nodding. "Can't hit whatcha can't see."

"Speaking of," Ashley said, "look over there, Lady Zorah."

Still embarrassed by the respect, but unsure how to stop it, Tali nonetheless glanced over to the ship that was following a path along the length of the Citadael. It had just appeared from the far side, and now was more or less facing them.

For the length of the ship, it was very thin. About the size of a Cruiser, it had a pointed nose, and the bulbous engine took up the back quarter of the ship. Forward-swept wings began just in front of the engine, and the smaller engines on them came flush with the center of the ship. The body was layered metal plates, painted black with orange stripes like a color-swapped tiger. It appeared more aggressive than the Turian ships, despite not having any visible weaponry.

As it prepared to turn, the port engine rotated so it was facing backwards and downwards, while the starboard engine tilted so it aimed up. That configuration allowed it to turn to port, perform a barrel roll, and squeeze between two Human frigates that had come around the corner, almost in slow motion, and definitely on a dime. It was only the momentum from going forward that translated into its drifting; the two engines had canceled each other out in that regard.

"The _Jinchuriki_ ," Joker said wistfully, staring at the contrails of the ship that had been around since the time of the Protheans, the only ship that had ever docked with the _Yoko_ , "the flagship of the Quarians' contribution to the Citadael Fleet."

Tali watched the contrails it left until they were warped and twisted and unrecognizable against the traffic of lesser ships. Because the _Jinchuriki_ was a Chakran ship, no doubt about it. Only Chakran ships used forward-swept wings, Uzushionium being the only metal or alloy able to stand up to the pressure exerted on such a design during atmospheric re-entry.

Then Joker spoke again as they got closer to the station. "Approach Control, this is URSV _Normandy_. Requesting docking clearance as well as a member of the Quarian Embassy to meet us ASAP."

" _We hear you,_ Normandy. _What's the need for the meeting?_ "

Joker glanced back at Tali, giving her a wink before he replied. "We got a suitless Quarian aboard wearing nothing but a hoodie. Goes by the last name of ' _Zorah_ '."

The other side was quiet for some time. " _Umm... Hold_ Normandy. _We're sending someone to verify your story. I trust you know the consequences for lying...especially about this._ "

A taloned hand reached between the three of them and pressed the comm. "This is SpecTRe Operative Wraith," the dark-themed Turian said formally. "Hold for confirmation code."

" _..._ _holding,_ " came the near-immediate, and obviously cowed, reply.

Nihlus gave a self-satisfied smirk at that. "For once, the law seems to favor us." He opened the channel again. "November Kilo Zulu 2-8-8 Sierra Omega Niner."

" _Confirmed, O_ _mega_ _Wraith. How's Candidate Phoenix?_ " a different, female, voice responded.

"Unconscious, Nu Amaranthine," Nihlus said. "Now do we have a dock, or am I going to have to go over C-Sec and talk to Anita and Sparatus?"

A low chuckle could be heard coming through the speakers. " _Calm down, Wraith... I was just trying to make small talk to pass the time. You've got your dock; head to N-23._ "

"What?!" Ashley said. "That's the _Jinchuriki_ 's personal dock! You can't be serious!"

" _We are,_ " Amaranthine responded, though there was a hint of a laugh in her voice. " _We asked, and they'll be on patrol all day._ _So long as your pilot stays just in case, they said you could use it... Thank your..._ unique _guest. Welcome to the Citadael, Lady Zorah. It's an honor to_ _speak to_ _you. Just don't tell Councilor Tevos I said so or she'd revoke my status and banish me quicker than you could say Migranta._ "

"I promise," Tali replied after Ashley pressed the comm for her, though she was slightly confused. "And thank you."

" _My pleasure, Lady Zorah. Enjoy your stay on the Citadael._ "

As Joker maneuvered the _Normandy_ to Docking Bay N-23, Tali asked them, "what did she mean...about the banishment and everything?"

It was Nihlus who answered her. "For the most part, the Asari view the Protheans almost as gods. Most of them hate Admiral Zumaki and any who follow him, especially the Quarians, and the Humans to a lesser extent due to their resemblance to him. They also believe it was the Protheans who built the Maledicta Network and the Citadael, and therefore think Admiral Zumaki is a liar. However, not all Asari are like that."

Ashley continued for him. "Those Asari are stripped of any rank, status, money, and property they own, and aren't allowed within three jumps of Thessia. Of course, most Asari like that are either archeologists or historians, so they can't really fight against it."

Joker decided to sum it up for her. "They're a race full of assholes, even to their own kind. Most just try to ignore them, but be careful with the ones within the three jumps, even if they _seem_ nice."

Tali nodded absently at the advice as the docking clamps latched on to the _Normandy_. She was still lost in thought as the group exited the airlock. It wasn't until they were in a room that was very much one with nature that she was brought out of her reverie.

The ceiling was high above, the room an elongated rectangle about fourty feet across and two-hundred feet long, ending in a glass wall that showed not only the Serpent Nebula and the hazy outline of the Counil Tower, but Docking Bay N-23 as well.

Each pillar along the walls was hidden behind a willow tree, the branches reaching the water that surrounded them. A single desk sat in front of each, facing the central walkway and, by extent, Tali in her Zorah hoodie.

Judging by the fact that the Quarian Embassy was manned mostly by Turians, Tali could only assume they were dextro-friendly trees. She also knew that the view of the _Normandy_ had to be artificial seeing as despite the fact that she had zoned out, she remembered riding from the Presidium to one of the Ward Arms, Zakera if she had heard correctly.

She pressed and a hand to it, and felt a chill rush up her arm from the contact.

"Liquid Chakra Display screen, with the Chakra being regulated to 223 Kelvin to allow for the condensation to occur... Aside from that, I have no idea how it works."

Using the subsequent chuckle to pinpoint the speaker, Tali saw a Turian with a black suit and tan plates mostly covered in white markings sitting behind a very minimalistic desk. "Tarquin Victus, the Raan Quarians' voice on the Citadael when I'm allowed to speak," he informed, answering Tali's question before it could even form in her mind. "And you must be the one claiming to be Tali'Zorah nar Migranta'Zorah..."

"I am," she said stubbornly. Honestly, did the Geth – _ahem_ , 'Protectors' – usually allow Rann Quarians to show up to random planets? And did those Quarians decide to forgo wearing envirosuits and allow themselves to be led to somewhere that was, for the most part, Migranta Quarian sympathetic?

She knew she basically lived under a rock in comparison to most people in the galaxy, but that seemed pretty far-fetched...

Tarquin gave her a searching look that lasted for longer than was socially acceptable before he sighed. He seemed to visibly deflate before he spoke again.

"Well, it's not like I can give you a blood test, since we don't have anything to test it _against_... The only thing it will tell us is that you're a Quarian, which is obvious. A Lie Detector Test is also out, seeing as you could lie on the control questions like your name and birthdate."

"But-"

Tarquin cut her off quickly. "You telling me your name is Tali'Zorah means nothing. If it's true, great, but I have no way to verify that. If you're lying, the test is skewered and every lie will be interpreted as a truth, and there's no point in that... What I'm saying," he finished, seeing the silver-haired Quarian's deadpan stare, "is that the only way to prove yourself, is by your actions. Become the model Migranta Quarian. Live up to the hype that is the Zorah name... In the meantime, I believe Master Seargent Williams will be more than up to the task of making sure you are on your best behavior."

"Yes, Master Chief," Ashley said from behind her, snapping a crisp salute. Though she was in the Marines, and Victus was an honorary member of the Migranta Quarian's Citadael Fleet – essentially the Navy – the fact that every branch of the military had more or less melded together, similar to how both the Navy and Army had always had an Air Force but much more in-depth, made such a fact negligible. The Humans and Turians had also almost completely unified their forces as well, becoming the military aspect of the United Races Space Command.

In short, it was par for the course for Humans and Turians to show as much respect to the military leaders of one race as the other.

Tarquin nodded to himself as he pulled up a new screen on his computer before typing quickly and sending whatever he just did into the ethernet that consisted of the Citadael Council and the other council races' embassies. "Well there you go, Williams. An official mission to discern the character of Tali'Zorah, lasting as long as you deem necessary, but no less than six standard months. Understood?"

"Crystal, sir," Ashley responded with a slight upturn to her lips, while Tali looked on perplexed between the Human and Turian as the Quarian representative dismissed the two females to their own devices.

"So..." Ashley began as they made their way to the Rapid Transit station that was a ten minute walk from the Migranta Quarian Embassy. "Do you even need a suit? Or are you good like you are?"

The Human female motioned to Tali's outfit. What no one aside from the Zorahs, Reegars, and Admiral Zumaki knew, was that Tali's outfit was a Zorah-exclusive Stealth Action Suit. It was a combination of technology and combat, seamlessly blended together to prove that what had once been the most prominent founding family were, in fact, the shinobi of the Quarian race.

Tali pinched some of the more elastic material near her joints. Despite its ancient age, its condition was near-mint, due to a small chakra seperator, which allowed the creation of new material. A faux-circulatory system was also weaved into the suit, allowing for repairs to be carried out immediately and autonomously.

"It's fine," Tali said as she finished inspecting what would normally be well-worn or frayed material. The chakra seperator was so small and quiet, that the only way to realize something was wrong with it was to either realize something wasn't being repaired as it should be, or taking it apart and finding a fault in it. "Though I may need a helmet la-a-a-ACHOO!"

"Gesundheit," Ashley quipped dryly, "and I believe you _do_ need one."

Tali only gave a small chuckle as she sniffled.

-X-

 **First of all, I express my deepest regret at the lateness of this chapter, as indicated by its extended length. Had it been a normal chapter, it would have ended when Sovereign left Eden Prime. I have not had access to the internet except for my phone since about two days after posting the chapter for _Protecting River_. That, and that alone, is the reason this is longer, as reparation. I'm not going to start writing 8-10k word chapters.(This one is just over 7900, not including the AN)**

 **And no, I couldn't go to the library, since apparently every library within a ten mile radius of my house doesn't have wifi or a way to connect my computer to an ethernet cable.**

 **There's also the fact that my ADHD seems to have made a resurgence after cropping up when I was 13 and going away when I was 15. Sadly, it seems to have come back with a vengeance, since I have trouble focusing on anything longer than half an hour. I even get bored of playing my 360 after about an hour.**

 **Anywho, facts about this story as of 7/7/16 12:07AM EST:**

 **Reviews – 55**

 **Follows – 366**

 **Faves – 287**

 **Theme Song – Jeff Williams – _This Will be the Day_ (From the RWBY Soundtrack)**

 **Story Rank(1-10) on my list – 10(I was very excited to write this, and therefore it is one of the first I wrote)**

 **Story number on my list – 215(This was the 215th Story I came up with. There's everything from Adventure Time to The Walking Dead)**

 **My next updated story will be Hart of Gold(a novelization of HeartGold/SoulSilver using the Lyra stand-in Amber Lynn Hart). Then I will update this, followed by Operation Eden, then this _again_ , then Protecting River, and back to this to do it all over again.**

 **And I swear to you all, such a long, unexplained hiatus like this will never happen again. I give you my word as an aspiring writer, whatever that may mean to you.**

 **BTW, I sincerely want to thank all of you who have made this story more popular than I could imagine while sober. Reviewers, Followers, Favorite-ers(?), and Readers; Thank you all!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	7. The Citadael

KrossoverXKing presents yet another installment of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a _Mass Effect_ ****and _Naruto_ crossover.

See first few chapters for Disclaimer

 **3, 4 months it's been? Not horrible, but not so good either. Hopefully next chapter will be quicker. Also, to give credit where credit is due, I am watching the walkthrough by Youtuber 'Zevik', who used Paragon options and played on Instanity. I'm not playing this time(I've done that about a dozen times, literally, for each game{2 for each character in ME1, 1 for ME2, and 2 for ME3}, and I can pause this to make sure I get the dialogue right). But on to the story.**

 **Oh, yeah. Here's a glossary.**

 **Citadael – the Citadel.**

 **Uzushionium – near-indestructible metal from Gakure. Naruto uses it to make everything.**

 **Gakure – Naruto's home planet. Joab in the og ME universe(Enoch, Rosetta Nebula).**

 **Maledicta – Multi-Lateral/Directional Chakran Transference Array(MLDCTA) – Mass Relay.**

 **Chakran – Naruto's race, the original users of Chakra from Gakure.**

 **Raan/Migranta – Raan are Quarians on Rannoch, Migranta are Quarians who followed Naruto.**

 **Sho-Kunai fighter – small-range fighter meant for speed and maneuverability, not cross-galaxy travel.**

 **Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko – Naruto, in case you didn't figure that out. AKA Admiral Zumaki.**

-X-

Docking Bay N-23: _Normandy S/R-1_

-X-

Tali touched the translucent purple visor with a gloved hand, the foreign feeling of glass obscuring her face one she wasn't fond of. However, to disguise her return as much as possible(Joker had been reprimanded for not securing the channel earlier), she couldn't be walking around without a mask all the time.

Migranta Quarians were nearly _defined_ by their suits. It was a part of them, even moreso than Humans and hair, as there were bald Humans. Should Tali walk around without a suit – or at least gloves and mask – then someone would connect the rumors to the Last Zorah pretty quickly.

After all, only Quarians and Turians had backwards-bending knees, and she obviously wasn't a Turian.

Entering the decontamination chamber, a female V.I. politely told them not to move as a bright beam of light – a visual interpretation of a microscopic war – passed over them, before allowing them entry into the _Normandy_.

As she had asked earlier, Ashley took Tali to her _Sho-Kunai-class_ fighter parked in the hangar, allowing her to recharge the ship with chakra somewhat, allowing it to keep the flowers alive while she took some for herself. Breathing in deeply and allowing some pollen to enter her immuno-circulatory system, Tali followed the Unitologist back up a floor to the Medbay, where Kaidan and Jane had apparently woken up while they were gone, surrounded by Garrus, Dr. Chakwas, and Captain Anderson.

But Jane was halfway to the door, dressed only in a hospital gown.

"...Saren's gone rogue, then the Council will revoke his SpecTRe status. He almost _killed_ Nihlus... Where is Nihlus?" Jane finally seemed to notice the dark-themed Turian wasn't in the room; as it was, the Turian Ghost was usually just standing silently and unmoving in a shadowy corner he always seemed to find.

It was Captain Anderson's baritone tone that answered her. "He went to go speak to the other SpecTRes. He told us to go ahead without him."

"What?" Jane said in disbelief. "We need him to go with us to present the evidence to the Council. Without him to provide a positive ID of Saren, Tevos'll just say Humans think all Turians look the same and dismiss it."

"Jane," Garrus cut in, "don't you think Nihlus knows this? He's probably on the Citadael right now, downloading his helmet cam and copying it to the SpecTRe database as we speak, as well as pulling some strings behind closed doors to help us."

Neither Tali nor Ashley understood the full context of that train of thought, but Jane seemed to take comfort in it. She looked around at the gathered group, then noticed the two young females standing at the door.

"How'd it go?" she asked with a grin.

"Good," Ashley replied. "Tarquin just told me to watch her, but I'd do that anyway."

Tali sort of understood _that_ , seeing as Ashley was apparently a Unitologist, someone who saw Admiral Zumaki as a god-like being and the Zorah Clan as his holy messengers...or something like that. So long as the brunette didn't get too weird or worship-y, Tali figured they could probably be friends.

"Yeah? That's good. And good job with the helmet. So long as she keeps the hoodie on, no one should notice she's wearing millenia-old armor." She motioned to the Stealth Action Suit, which hadn't been recreated out of respect for the Zorahs, but was known to Unitologists, or simply armor, Quarian or Zorah enthusiasts. Replicas weren't even allowed to be made, being seen as disrespectful to their sacrifice.

"Thank you, ma'am," Ashley said, blushing at the praise. Whether it was because she was being praised by the first Human female SpecTRe candidate, or because it was due to the fact that she had helped the last loyal Zorah, no one knew.

"Now," Jane yawned, stretching so far something popped, "I'mma get dressed, and then we're all going to the Council to try and do something about Saren's betrayal."

"That's fine for you, Shepard," Dr. Chakwas' heavily accented voice replied, "but Kaidan is still unfit to even walk, let alone stand trial, even as a witness. As for the rest of you, he needs his rest."

Kaidan looked up sleepily from his own bed, the fact that he was conscious with all the pain-killers one of many miracles surrounding him.

Even Captain Anderson understood the unspoken order; in the medbay, when it came to the patients, her word superseded his.

On the other side of the door, they made plans to meet outside the airlock where they would then go to the trial. In the interim, both Jane, Garrus and Captain Anderson got dressed or simply freshened up, meeting Tali and Ashley just outside the _Normandy_ 's airlock.

-X-

Citadael: Human Embassy

-X-

Their first stop was to the Human Embassy, to pick up Councilor Udina. Though both Jane and Captain Anderson expressed their displeasure towards the elder man, he was still required to be present.

It didn't prepare her for the man, himself, however.

"This is an OUTRAGE! We would all step in if the Geth attacked an _Asari_ colony!" He paused for a brief second, glaring at the all three of them before focusing on the central one. "Don't deny it, Tevos."

The center Councilor, the aforementioned Asari named Tevos, spoke up, as usual, for her fellow holographic Councilors. " _Unfortunately for your argument, Donnel,_ _we will not know if such is true. We Asari are smart enough to not build colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems._ "

Everyone else watched in muted fascination as this travesty of a briefing took place. With the petty insults, obvious lies – Eden Prime was a single jump from Earth, deep in Alliance territory – and complete lack of decorum whether they addressed each other or the Protectors, they seemed to be ignoring the larger threats.

The appearance of a Reaper, the activities of a rogue SpecTRe, the near-assassination of _another_ SpecTRe by the first, and the corruption of the Protectors into a mechanical, methodical army.

"Eden Prime's crops are burning as we speak! Nearly four million colonists live on that planet, and yet you do nothing! I demand ACTION!" Once again, Udina roared out his demands in his aged, gravely voice. Once again, he was easily rebuffed.

" _You do not get to make demands of the Council, even if you are one of us. This panel has been, and always will be, a Democracy,_ " croaked out Valern, the Salarian Councilor. Though he was physically the youngest, being in his mid-thirties, he was biologically the oldest, having a decade at most before natural causes took hold of him. " _Each action must be preceded by a majority vote. The fact that there are four of us should never have been allowed..._ "

"And what of the larger threats?" Captain Anderson finally inquired, injecting himself into the meeting. "Saren? The Reaper?"

Each pair of eyes that flickered over to him held a different emotion as they regarded the dark-skinned man in his full dress blues. There was apathy, disgust, exasperation, and relief directed at the man and his interruption.

Tevos dismissed the man as quickly as he had appeared. Regarding Councilor Udina once again, she said " _We expect to see you at the hearing,_ " and cut the connection.

Slowly, as if reigning in anger, Udina spoke in a repressed growl and clipped tone that implied the same. " _Captain_ _Anderson_... I see you brought half your crew with you."

Captain Anderson ignored the exaggerated jab at the _Normandy_ 's automation(why he insulted such a thing was a mystery), and replied back with a congenial tone. "Just those on the ground on Eden Prime who saw it all, in case you had any questions."

"As a matter of fact, I do," Udina snapped. "Why do I only have a report of a few radar techs, your pilot, a Turian, and someone who isn't even part of your crew, as well as a drunk dockworker? Why don't I have Shepard's, or the Biotic's? Hell, even the Quarian's would be something, as little as it would do."

"Shepard, Alenko, and Lady Zorah were unconscious until just recently. Alenko is still in the medbay recovering, as a matter of fact," Anderson replied, cutting off the three females before they could show him the wrath of a woman _insulted_. Or the friends of one, even. "Though I am glad you were able to secure that hearing with the rest of the Council so quickly."

"They weren't happy about it," Udina muttered, glancing back towards the holographic projectors. "Saren is their top agent, and all I had as proof was a few half-assed reports of people I can't vouch for. They don't like the fact that you're trying to prove him a traitor with so little evidence..."

"Then I'll give my testimony," Jane decided. "It'll be more moving than that piece of paper, anyways."

"And as for _you_ ," Udina suddenly said, spinning and facing the red-haired SpecTRe candidate. "This was your last mission on probation. That mission to Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, the Prothean Beacon you were sent to collect was destroyed, and you decided it was a good idea to blame their most highly decorated SpecTRe, instead of taking the blame for your failure!"

Captain Anderson was powerless to stop Jane from going full-ballistic on the old man, if he even wanted to. "It _was_ Saren's fault! I _know_ he was in that Reaper, and that Reaper was controlling the Protectors and destroyed the Beacon, _under his order!_ "

Jane paused to breathe after her yelling, and after another pause, Udina got over his shock enough to retort.

It wasn't to be, however, as Jane continued. Her hollow-sounding whisper shut the normally unfeeling man up if for no other reason than it was rare to see the impassioned Jane Shepard as one who seemed devoid of one extreme emotion or another. Even Garrus was unsure how to help her.

"I still blame myself to this day for the death of my father... I didn't even know this Saren guy until I saw him trying to kill Nihlus. All I knew, was that you wanted me to get some fancy-like giant space cellphone some assholes built _fifty_ - _thousand_ _years_ _ago_ and then _buried_ , stick it in the _Normandy_ , and bring it back. I wasn't expecting another SpecTRe to try and kill Nihlus. I wasn't expecting to find the last Zorah, let alone have her standing ten feet behind me even now. I wasn't expecting to have to protect _myself_ from the gorram _Protectors_..." She paused, taking a second to collect her thoughts before she plowed through the next sentence. "And I definitely wasn't expecting to almost be killed by a Reaper before Admiral Zumaki told us they would be here, so don't you ever... Ever. _EVER!_ " She paused again, glaring at the man in front of her as she wrapped up her speech. "accuse me of blaming someone else when it was my fault, because that will never happen."

"Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support your accusations. Otherwise, you'll be yet another Human to fall short of the SpecTRe candidacy."

Ignoring how Udina spoke as if he wasn't a Human, also, Anderson spoke up. "What investigation? This confrontation happened a few hours ago, so there's no way they gathered enough evidence to pin Saren down. What about the reports?"

"As I said," Udina stated, "I couldn't vouch for the testimonies presented to the other Councilors. Therefore, they were inadmissible as evidence."

"What!" Ashley screeched, now that it was her turn to be flabbergasted. "What kind of rigged system is that? Oh, ' _if you don't know every member of your species, one of them may get thrown in jail because you can't give them a character evaluation_ '? That is utter bull-"

"Williams," Anderson said firmly, letting her know to ix-nay on the anger-ay. For the redhead, it was fine, but Ashley was more attuned to the chakra that leaked from Admiral Zumaki's Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan as he wept for the Prothean known as Deoxys.

And no, that wasn't a Creation Myth. Due to the Great Sage having his eyes constantly activated – though he usually hid such behind a Genjutsu – his tears carried trace amounts of chakra from said eyes, from the New Founding Clans of Uchiha, Uzumaki, and Ootsutsuki, where each Human was forever tied to one of those three. The dominant Clan's chakra made up approximately half of ones own chakra, while the other two made up roughly a quarter apiece. No one clan was more powerful than the others, instead having a rock-paper-scissors style of domination within the chakra pathways.

One with Ootsutsuki-dominated chakra and one with Uzumaki-dominated chakra would have a baby aligned with the Ootsutsuki Clan.

An Uzumaki parent and Uchiha parent would have an Uzumaki baby.

And an Uchiha parent and an Ootsutsuki parent would have an Uchiha baby.

Just with the three Humans that had survived the Eden Prime mission, Ashley was an Uchiha by chakra, Jane an Uzumaki, and Kaidan an Ootsutsuki.

No other race was like this. Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko was on Earth when he learned of her passing, and had cried literal rivers afterwords. Though jaded, he knew how it felt to be the only one fighting for what you believed in, while everyone around you constantly made the wrong decision.

And the emotions she had felt: depression, loneliness, betrayal... All those darker thoughts and feelings that gave rise to his Yami self during his pre-Genin years.

But there was nothing he could do, so he resigned to wallow in despair for a year to be able to face the Quarians after failing yet again.

All the longest rivers on Earth, the Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi... they were created from his tears, as it was written in the Book of Unitoligy.

Those verses were to show how Naru'Zumaki was as caring as they were, as flawed as they were. And how quickly he had recovered, for what was a year to a man who lived for hundreds of thousands of them, whereas Humans were lucky to live the _daily_ equivalent to half the _years_ of a _single_ _Cycle_.

"Glad to see you've found a way to deal with the more... _volatile_ members of your crew," Udina stated haughtily, seeing Ashley completely cowed. "Now if you don't mind, we have somewhere to be soon."

"Of course," Anderson replied immediately, glad for any reason to get out of the Embassy. The group said nothing as they entered two Human-owned skycars, heading towards the Council Chambers, flanked by a wing of Turian _Talon_ fighters.

-X-

Citadael: Council Chambers

-X-

As they landed near the Council Chambers, Udina broke away from the group to take his place with the other three, leaving Jane, Garrus, Ashley, Tali, and Captain Anderson to speak to a finely dressed Turian dismissing a member of C-Sec.

"Hey, Executor Pallin," Jane greeted the man simply, giving a half-hearted wave as they got closer. It was only the fact that she used his title that she wasn't immediately strung up for insubordination.

That, and no one in the six-person group would have turned her in for it.

"Shepard," Pallin said as softly as he could in his flanged tone. The dual gravely and high-pitched voices that Turians produced made it difficult to whisper. "I wish I had better news. Even with my most loyal members on the case, it appears we were too slow. We have no way of knowing if there's any evidence behind the SpecTRe firewalls, and you were a day too slow for the weekly colony update."

"And Saren's a SpecTRe, so everything about him is Kage-level classified. If he goes to the store, C-Sec has automatic Council authority to confiscate the security footage, and a smart virus uses facial recognition to distort their image on any camera besides a SpecTRe helmet-cam, to boot..."

And SpecTRes were the only ones to have helmet-cams in the first place, due to the millenium-old precedent that was set by the Council that helmet-cam evidence was irrefutable. Due to this, it was decided that the less people that had access to such evidence, the less of a chance there was of it being tampered with.

"Exactly," Executor Pallin finished as he walked away, patting the red-head on the shoulder. "So you better hope Nihlus got a good look at him, otherwise you have no hard evidence-"

"The kind we need to pin a SpecTRe down for treason, especially one as decorated as Saren," Garrus finished, getting a nod from the man as he left the five others to continue his job as head of C-Sec.

"Let's go," Captain Anderson said as he also walked away, though towards the Council Chamber. "It sounds like they've already started."

As crazy as it sounded, what with Jane being the accuser, they could tell it was the truth as they began following him.

"The Geth attack is a matter of some concern," came Tevos' ever patient yet condescending tone, "but there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way. The C-Sec investigation turned up no evidence to support a charge of treason."

From left to right, Udina, Tevos, Valern, and Sparatus stood on a raised platform overlooking a balcony over a traditional garden complete with cherry blossom trees and large stones. A walkway and benches were also present, their purpose unknown. After all, no one was allowed down there.

However, what was most surprising was the larger-than-life holographic representation of Saren Arterius on the left podium watching the proceeding with a thoroughly bored expression on his face while he leaned back on an invisible surface, his arms – real and prosthetic alike – crossed over his armored chest.

"According to Captain Anderson, he has a few key witnesses to provide damning testimonies, if we had only waited a short while longer to begin," Sparatus said sharply. He didn't like the fact that it seemed like Tevos was trying to protect Saren from the accusation by exploiting every loophole – legal or otherwise – in order to do so, instead of, say, allowing the trial to happen and refuting them with the truth.

Unless, of course, the truth was what they were trying to avoid.

"That dockworker is a drunkard and an all-around irresponsible employee," Udina bit out harshly. "The fact that he was able to master his Suiton chakra to a degree which makes him invisible by refracting light around him is a miracle. His testimony should be dismissed, as well as all those others he handed me. If the reports he gave me are anything to go by, we're wasting our time."

" _I resent these accusations,_ " came Saren's amplified voice from the speakers all over the room. " _I am the longest-serving SpecTRe in the millenia-long history of the organization. To now be accused of going against the_ _laws I have spent decades defending is laughable... And to be accused of attempting to murder my fellow SpecTRe, my friend..._ "

Tevos seemed to want to latch onto that, using his previous exemplary service to throw doubt on the current accusations, but there was a wrench thrown into those plans.

"That just means this is the first time you've been caught," snapped Captain Anderson suddenly, a haze of Katon chakra distorting the air around him due to his anger. "And to you, Saren, being someone's friend just means you have an easier time stabbing them in the back!"

"Honestly," Tevos muttered at the man's short fuse.

" _Captain Anderson...,_ " Saren drawled out, staring down at the man now at the edge of the podium. " _You always seem to be involved when Humanity makes false charges against me. I would have figured you learned your lesson the first time._ "

"I did," Captain Anderson said, a hint of smugness in his voice. "This time, I brought witnesses."

Saren's head-sized eyes surveyed the small group behind his pathetic rival, analyzing them in turn like a bird-of-prey, before finally resting on the N7 standing just off to the side of the others. " _And this must be your protege, Commander Shepard. The one who let the Beacon get destroyed._ "

"The mission to Eden Prime was top secret," Jane said, a steely edge to her voice. "The only way you could know about the Beacon was if you were there!" she accused, glaring fiercely with her bio-mechanical fuchsia eyes.

Saren chuckled at her paltry intimidation tactic. " _Silly girl, have you never had a friend? Or a mentor? But of course you have... Haven't you told Captain Anderson about things you maybe shouldn't have?_ " At her guilty glance, he pressed on. " _Nihlus told me about the mission,_ _ **bzzzt**_ _, -ow badly you failed at a simple retrieval mission._ "

" _No I didn't,_ " Nihlus snapped suddenly from the podium near Sparatus, his own large sapphire hologram glaring across the room darkly at his mentor's orange one. " _I have helmet-cam evidence showing Saren at Eden Prime, which he tells me is at your behest._ " He then pleaded to the Council. " _Saren despises Humans, believing they gained preferential treatment, like the Migranta Quarians, from Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko. He tried to distill this same racism on me, but I resisted. I believe this is why he launched a full-scale attack against Eden Prime instead of simply using the Beacon for whatever he needed and then leaving._ "

" _You claim to have evidence?_ " Saren snapped. " _Well I have evidence of the fact that Humanity needs to learn its place. They shouldn't have joined the Council in the first place. We shouldn't be giving them the opportunity to join the SpecTRes!_ _They're too rash! Too impatient! They have more chakra variants than any other race, including the Quarians, and they believe they're entitled to-_ "

" _ **Saren? What are you doing here?"**_

" _ **The Council thought you could use a little...**_ **help** ** _on this."_**

" _ **It's bad, Saren... The Migranta Quarians told us the Protectors were keeping the Rann Quarians on Rannoch, and have been for 40 millenia. So why did they leave? And why are they attacking now, so far into Human territory?"**_

" _ **Don't worry, Nihlus. I have it all under control..."**_

 _ **Suddenly, various retorts of a shotgun begin slamming into Saren as he withdraws his pistol from the back of Nihlus' head to focus on an invisible foe. Nihlus wastes no time in joining the fray against his once-mentor turned would-be executioner.**_

 _ **Every time Saren gets the upper hand, another shotgun blast forces him to disengage, losing the momentum. Eventually, Saren is shot twice by disruptor rounds before being engulfed in a cone of electricity, only to step on a hovering platform and book it down the monorail system.**_

 _ **He reveals the location of Tali'Zorah nar Migranta-Zorah first, however.**_

"Heh," Garrus muttered. "Gottie..."

Without prompting, Saren's hologram disappeared, the dichotomy of colors replaced by the suffusion of blue over all present.

"You wanted proof..." Jane said lowly, glaring at Tevos, then Udina as she jabbed a finger at where Saren had been. "The innocent don't run! The _innocent_ don't _lie_!"

Jane visibly calmed herself as Garrus placed a hand on her shoulder. He didn't pull her back – he valued his relationship with her too much – but stood right beside her as he spoke next.

He was her voice of reason. The one who said what she was thinking in a way that others actually listened to. Some emotion was good, in order to show conviction, but when she started _emphasizing_ and _exclaiming_ every other word, it was time for him to work his space magic.

"It was stupid to not have Saren physically present at this hearing...for this very reason. Now that it hasn't gone his way, he has a head-start on us, and he probably isn't even-"

" _He's still on the Citadael,_ " Nihlus interrupted, " _Zakera Ward, in fact._ " He glanced down at his protege, something akin to pride in his eyes which, while he was composed entirely of blue light, weren't as blue as they were in person. " _Meet me in the lower markets. We'll rendezvou_ _s there and come up with a plan of attack as well as get a better fix on his location._ "

Jane nodded, and everyone combat ready was ready to go even as Nihlus' hologram disappeared.

"Commander Shepard," Tevos said just as they turned around. Jane rolled her fuchsia eyes (prompting Garrus to sigh with a good-natured smile, Ashley to school her features to downgrade the full-on laughing fit into an unexplained coughing fit, and Tali to giggle since she wasn't used to suppressing – or really _having_ – positive emotions), but faced the Asari Councilor.

"Yes, ma'am?" Jane said, more through her teeth than her mouth.

"Step forward, please," Tevos continued, ignoring the red-head's tone in favor of continuing with her own soft timbre.

"This evidence is irrefutable," Valern said once she had done so. "Saren Arterius will be stripped of his SpecTRe status, as well as any and all rights and resources associated with that title being revoked as well."

"You did well to have all survived a surprise attack from him," Sparatus continued, "though I believe that is due in large part to Lady Zorah's intervention..."

Tali blushed even as Tevos shot her Turian counterpart a scathing look. She had hoped to just ignore the little suit rat in the hopes that it would scurry away after not getting enough attention, but it seemed like this one was stubbornly persistent...or a masochist.

"That's cool and all," Jane began, tapping her foot, "and I'm grateful, really...but we just heard that Saren was still here on the Citadael, and you're stopping me from getting up with Nihlus to take the bastard down. So can I _please_ just go?"

"We will send in C-Sec to take down Saren, Shepard," Udina bit out. "They can secure the entire ward, as well as shut down the docking bays."

"Only a SpecTRe can take down a SpecTRe...or maybe two in the case of Saren," Sparatus said, glancing across at his fellow council members. "Securing the ward and the docking bays is fine for C-Sec, but Shepard and Nihlus will have to take down Saren. There would be too many deaths, otherwise."

"Then we know what we have to do," Valern said, nodding. "2-vee-1, with no restraints. No civilians in the way due to C-Sec, and two proven combatants."

Eventually, begrudgingly, Udina and Tevos nodded as well to the logic.

Jane was having a hard time following the conversation, but the direction it was going was nearly unfathomable for her. She had hoped and worked for it, sure, but there was always that doubt that Tevos would block it on the grounds that she was Human – though the blue lady wouldn't say as such – and she would be just another failed Human SpecTRe candidate.

Granted, she had made it the farthest (a year as Nihlus' shadow, then another more or less with him as her guardian angel), but it didn't stop the fact that _all four_ council members had to say yes. To become a candidate was marginally easier. You needed one high-ranking member of your species to speak to and get the approval of a council member, who then uploaded your credentials to the SpecTRe database, where one of them had to agree to take you on as their apprentice.

Admiral Hackett – a five-star General and commander of the Arcturus Fleet – had spoken to Sparatus – since Udina was always _busy_ – who gave it to the SpecTRes, where it was immediately picked up by Nihlus.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

All four councilors quickly typed into their keyboards, before once again focusing on Jane.

Around them, Tali noticed the balconies filling up with members of the council races, watching the proceedings with baited breath. Why the public was allowed into a meeting which, before, seemed more focused on a rogue SpecTRe agent and was a strictly Internal Affairs matter was beyond the out-of-touch Quarian.

"It is the decision of this Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," Udina began bitterly. He made no secret of his dislike of Jane, so for her to be the one that made Humanity a true council member must contain a plethora of conflicting emotions for the old man.

"SpecTRes are chosen from individuals forged in the fire of service and battle," Valern picked up, "those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file... Then we train them beyond even that."

"SpecTRes are an ideal...a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance," Tevos continued with a pointed glance at the group around the redhead. "They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

Jane made a face at that, but quickly changed her attitude when Sparatus spoke up.

"SpecTRes bear a great burden," Sparatus finished gravely. "They are protectors of galactic peace; both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold... You are the first Human SpecTRe, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

"I'm honored, councilors," Jane replied dutifully, more out of reflex than any current stimulus.

"Go," Sparatus finally said, reading her not-so-subtle body language. "We've kept you long enough. We'll coordinate with C-Sec here while you go meet up with Nihlus."

"Thanks," Jane said hurriedly, already turning around, giving a backwards wave. "And thanks for the promotion!"

"How ungrateful," Tevos muttered once everyone – even the crowd on the balcony – had left.

"We'll come to regret this," Udina agreed. "Shepard's not one for subtlety, much less restraint..."

"She's in shock," Sparatus defended. "She's more thankful than she lets on."

Valern hummed in thought, noting the clear divide between his other three councilors. There was only one question that he hadn't answered in regards to that...

Which side was he on?

-X-

Citadael: Zakera Ward Skyway

-X-

" _Shepard, what's your ETA? You should have been here five minutes ago._ _I've already tracked the signal,_ " Nihlus' voice crackled to life in the skycar. Jane glanced at the map of the packed vehicle and replied with the good news.

"We got about three more minutes before we reach the Chora's Den's st-"

" _No!_ " Nihlus cut in suddenly. " _That's where_ _I pinpointed the feed to_ _..._ _Assuming Saren is still there-_ "

"It'll be heavily guarded," Jane finished with a sigh.

" _It is heavily guarded,_ " Nihlus corrected. " _My HUD's picking up half a dozen hostiles just on the walkway, and I can't use explosives in case someone goes over the edge into oncoming traffic._ "

"Hold on a sec, sir," Ashley interrupted. While normally she wouldn't be so rude to a superior, especially a SpecTRe, they had two and a half minutes before they were in the same boat as Nihlus. She turned to Tali, who was in the passenger seat. "Can you hack this skycar? They haven't changed since their time on Rannoch."

Tali tilted her head at that statement, wondering how no one had created a better automated transportation vehicle in 40 millenia. Or was it the old adage of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'? After all, like the rest of the Citadael, skycars were made of Uzushionium, the near-mythical self-replenishing metal from the Chakrans' home planet.

"If it's the same _exactly_ , then yes," Tali finally told them all. "I've had to use them a few times if I had to get away from or to somewhere quickly, so I can do it if that's the case." She pulled out her Arc Pistol, pressing the barrel behind the central screen even as she activated her omni-tool and used the attached wire to hook into the vehicle. All three fingers of her right hand poised over the holographic display and her left keeping the gun steady where she had set it. "Otherwise, I'll have fried the automatic steering with no way to switch to manual."

Everyone sobered at that. Best case scenario for something like that, was they didn't immediately die on impact.

But the other option was to let Saren run free because he hired a bunch of thugs.

"Let's do it," Jane said with a near-feral grin. Had any of their enemies saw it, they wouldn't even have to attempt this crazy stunt since they would have run away in fear.

"Nothing like an adrenaline spike before a big fight," Ashley agreed with her fellow human.

Garrus shook his head at their antics, before reverting to sarcasm as was his norm when faced with life or death situations. "May as well... We'll either save the day or wind up as ten seconds of a fail compilation."

"A fail wha-" Tali began, before being interrupted.

"60 seconds," Ashley reminded them. "Do it if you're doing it, Lady Zorah!"

Tali wasted no time in pulling the trigger, the electric-based bolt sending every light on the vehicle into high-beams – even those inside – and causing the engine to red-line.

Everyone slammed into their seat with an audible "Oomph!"

"No, no, no!" Tali called out, scrabbling over her omni-tool.

" _WHAT'S GOING ON OVER THERE!_ " Nihlus' voice rang out in the skycar, about as loud as consecutive shotgun blasts.

Everyone turned to Tali, whose fingers continued to fly over her keyboard as they continued to drift further and further up a banked curve, the fact that it was banked nearly vertically the only reason they were still on the road. She spoke without stopping.

"I was aiming for the VI housing, but grazed the armatures...overcharged it. Still got it!"

Suddenly, a steering wheel unfolded from in front of Ashley, who quickly jerked the wheel. An ear-splitting screech sounded as the rear end slid along the edge of the track.

"Comin' in hot!" she called out, everyone bracing even as the skycar – whose front end was raised due to the rear-end's stint over the edge – hopped onto the entrance walkway to Chora's Den, killing one combatant before he even had time to turn to meet his maker.

Tail end still hanging off the edge, the skycar was wedged in the other corner of the short side where Nihlus was still at. Behind him, they could make out a C-Sec line stopping innocents from getting closer. Able to get out, Ashley immediately took care of a fellow Human who had been about to rush Nihlus before they arrived. Garrus and his own sniper rifle hopping atop the car and hiding behind the lip of the cockpit, taking out two along that same side before even having to inhale during his breathing exercises.

By this point, Tali and Jane had also exited, the last Zorah ending the only one in range of her shotgun, while laying covering fire as Nihlus and Jane stalked towards the last two combatants, who were hidden behind the waist-high wall near the entrance to Chora's Den.

A Turian Ghost Infiltrator and an N7 Shadow Slayer flanking your rudimentary defense was a terrifying experience for anyone, _especially_ if they were also both SpecTRes. So the fact that they chose to stand and fight instead of cower in fear was admirable, though it didn't help the Salarian or Turian.

For the biggest threats on the battlefield had just... _disappeared_.

' _fwoop!_ '

' _kwoom!_ '

' _SH-_ _CR-_ _SHINK!_ '

Jane had appeared behind her opponent, crouched on a wall. The quick burst of speed afforded by various beneficial supplementary implants made it seem as if she were bending the laws of space-time worse than a Maledicta. Her sword was extended far from her body, parallel with the wall.

Nihlus was far above his own opponent, omni-blades poised on each wrist and extending half the length of his arm _past_ his arm. Unlike Jane's his seemed more ready to be thrust than swung.

Then Jane kicked off the wall and beheaded her opponent even as he was halfway through turning around. Green blood speckled her visor as most pooled around her feet.

Subsequently, Nihlus' boosters sent him over his own adversary's 'spray and pray' method, crushing the assault rifle with a knee as his orange blade was coated with cobalt blood, the organic material burning away just as quickly due to the weapon's heart.

Tali, Ashley, and Garrus joined the two SpecTRes at the door, rearranging a few metal crates to provide some cross-fire once the bar was opened.

Tali, sensing her cue, steeped up to the terminal and had it unlocked in less than ten seconds. Though wary of the flimsy security, Nihlus saw no other alternative as he prepared a few incendiary grenades.

' _Five...four...three...two...one...now!_ '

The assault to capture Saren had begun.

-X-

 **6100 words, pretty alright.**

 **Dat cliffhanger, though ;)**

 **Anywho, next chapter of this will begin with Nihlus tossing that incendiary grenade.**

 **Also, thanks for all the likes, subs, follows, c2's and reviews, everyone. I'm glad one of my most anticipated – for me to write – stories is also favored by you all, as well.**

 **Got t-boned by someone who ran a red light which totaled my car then got fired from my job, so I'm back with my mother for the time being. Hopefully that'll give me some more writing time in between job searching, though of course job searching is –and has been – more important. I've probably filled out three applications a day since those incidents – which occurred mid-july and early September, respectfully.**

 **If you liked this story until this point, punch those like and subscribe buttons in the face if you haven't already.**

 **Next chapter I'm updating is Operation: Eden for anyone who is reading both of these stories.**

 **Ja Ne until then.**


	8. Surprises, Both Good and Bad

**If you got this notice on 10/30/16, it's a repeat.**

KrossoverXKing presents the much-anticipated installment of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a _Mass Effect_ and _Naruto_ crossover.

See first few chapters for Disclaimer

 **Wooh! That's fast! I wanted the chapter for Operation: Eden out before TWD Season 7 premiere since it's a zombie fic, and here I am, screwed up circadian rhythm and all. It's 1:20 AM on 10/23, and I decided to start writing the next chapter for you guys.**

 **But man, has it been a crazy week. The Sun &Moon demo came out, RWBY Season 4 premiere earlier, TWD season 7 premiere later today... And ya got lil' ol' me posting two chapters in a week.**

 **Anywho, this is your glossary for this chapter.**

 **Raan/Migranta – Raan are Quarians on Rannoch, Migranta are Quarians who followed Naruto.**

 **SAS – Stealth Action Suit. A joint Xen/Reegar/Zorah project to truly make the Zorahs the Shinobi of the Quarian Race. Not even Tali knows all of its functions.**

 **Citadael – the Citadel.**

 **Uzushionium – near-indestructible metal from Gakure. The Zorah Clan were as knowledgeable as Naruto when it came to its properties.**

 **Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko/Admiral Zumaki – What Naruto is commonly called in this cycle.**

 **Segmented Enhancement Armor – Dead Space Armor. Sue me (please don't).**

 **Maledicta – Multi-Lateral/Directional Chakran Transference Array(MLDCTA) – a Mass Relay.**

 **Protector – What most people, aside from Tali and Asari, call the Geth in this universe. Orange-lit Protectors are known as Geth, because they aren't protecting anyone.**

 **Gakure – Chakran home planet, originally Joab(Enoch, Rosetta Nebula).**

 **Chakran – Naruto's race. The original Chakra wielders.**

 **Ninjato – Gakure's Military.**

 **Chouwa no Kuni – originally Amegakure. Where Naruto and Sasuke chose to begin the path to peace, right in between three of the five Great Nations.**

 **-X-**

 **Citadael: Zakera Ward – Chora's Den**

 **-X-**

 _It was still too early for me to comprehend how irrevocably my life had changed. Well, that's not exactly true. I was riding a high of adrenaline and new experiences. I had yet to process the fact that my father had betrayed our family, as well as Admiral Zumaki. He had betrayed everything he had done and we had ever did._

 _I had left my planet, fleeing from members of my own race who would sooner hang me than help me._

 _I had stopped a master from betraying his apprentice._

 _I had almost been killed by a Reaper..._

 _I would crash eventually, but until then, I would just keep on being me._

 _An excerpt from The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko – Page 12_

The two disc-shaped grenades impacted each other right where Nihlus wanted them to, drastically changing both of their trajectories so they made right angles right inside the door.

A pained scream was abruptly cut off as the incendiary part of the incendiary grenade came into play, a _fwoosh~_ turning the man into fine ash.

Garrus, using the smoke caused by the other grenade and his own thermal scope, shot a man who had perched atop the bar with a triplet of cryo rounds. The first two destroyed his shields, while the third impacted his throat, the flexible rubber-like material offering no protection unlike the ceramic/carbon composite armor.

"Tali, Ashley... you're up."

Both females nodded to _SpecTRe_ Shepard's order, the Quarian taking point. Using the active camoflauge of her SAS, Tali went left and lined up her own shot at someone hiding behind a partition near the door. It was actually the second-closest, the man behind the closest partiton having met his end at the hand of Nihlus' grenade.

Ashley stepped through the thinning smoke, finding her target on the right, and putting her assault rifle's automatic setting to the test. Tali, for her part, leaned over the partition and shot the Salarian there with her _Tanto_ shotgun.

" _RRRAAH_ _H_ _H!_ "

Jane was quick to appear at hearing the charging Krogan's roar, who was headed straight for Tali. At the same time, Garrus caused another merc's gun to explode in his hands, the adversary having peeked out from behind the pillar in the center to attack the Last Zorah, whose camoflauge apparently shorted out when blood had gotten on it.

" _ **Suiton: Mizurappa!**_ " The aptly named water trumpet slammed into the Krogan, sending him careening back and crushing an unfortunate Human when it impacted the wall.

Nihlus used his jets to land atop the bar, killing the bartender who also held a shotgun with his HMWP: X. This allowed Ashley to mold her chakra in preparation for the last enemy, who cowered behind a metal crate.

" _ **Chidori...**_ "

Gathering lightning in her right hand, Ashley held the wrist with her left hand as she aimed her palm at the man still hiding behind the crate.

" _ **Senbon.**_ "

With those two words, dozens of needles formed from lightning sped forward, the brunette's manipulation and concentration so fine-tuned she arced them over the crate, before they shot straight down like rain.

Only Nihlus was jaded enough to look behind the crate and check as they entered the hall for the back office.

Lightning Release was the most versatile and destructive element of the current century, as it had been for the last three. Nearly everything ran on electricity. Anything that used Eezo used electricity. If one were to use Lightning Release on Eezo, it would continually gain mass as long as that person kept up the flow of chakra.

In weapons, their force came from sending very lightweight grains of metal at high velocity, said velocity giving the small projectiles their force. When hit by Lightning, however, the grains were no longer lightweight, and instead overheated the gun due to it trying to push the heavy metal filings to the same velocity, which usually ended...explosively.

With armor, there was no stopping the list of problems that could be caused by a small application of pulsating electrical current.

Once again, Tali hacked the door open, followed by Ashley tossing a frag grenade in, then she and Nihlus entering and taking out the two distracted grunts.

It was an ingrained efficiency. Turians and Humans regularly intermingled in combat-related operations, and a hybrid of their pre-contact militaries was born to accommodate both races.

And it was a force to be reckoned with, that camaraderie. The unstoppable force of Human ingenuity combined with the immovable object known as Turian discipline made any enemy think twice about attacking the military backbones of the Citadael.

There was no 'Let's use Human tactics', or 'Let's use Turian tactics'. It was one in the same for the past three centuries.

The next door was unlocked, so Jane and Garrus took to dealing with whoever was on the other side.

Garrus aimed his gun right at the seam of the sliding doors as he kneeled right in front of them, even as Jane readied her katana and opened the door.

There was no hesitation in the redhead's actions as she used her cybernetics to their fullest potential, blocking the shots that flew over her significant other, while Garrus' shields absorbed the rest.

The resounding _CRACK_ of the sniper rifle put an end to the assault rifle's constant barking by way of ending its owner's life.

And now, only one door stood between them and Saren Arterius.

"Lady Zorah," Nihlus began, "I wish for you to be the one who breaches this door. Your Stealth Action Suit will be able to handle whatever final defense my mentor has prepared, and you will be able to get a read on the room before we close the door."

"I can do you one better," Tali said, glad to show off something more than her hacking ability. According to Ashley, Migranta Quarians were as defined by their technological ability as they were their suits.

As much as she was proud to be a loyal Zorah, a loyal Migranta Quarian... Tali was also her own person. She needed to be known for something other than what _every_ _other_ Migranta Quarian was known for.

She was a Zorah, the Last Zorah, Tali'Zorah. And like Tarquin Victus told her, she needed to show everyone what exactly that entailed.

She reached into a pouch on her SAS, pulling out eight metal discs. Six of them were elongated, while the other two were regular circles. She proceeded to place the six ovals on her fingers, while the two circles went on her palms. She also knocked her heels on the floor, causing a simlar configuration to activate in her shoes.

"I'll mark the enemies on your HUD, then attack from above as a distraction."

Garrus' question of "How?" was answered as she began climbing up the wall, into an overhead vent.

The simple explanation for the intricate process could be summed up in one word: magnets.

The wafer-thin discs were made of Uzushionium. The Chakrans' signature metal was special in one way, and what a way it was.

It only reacted to the elements created purely from chakra.

If you wanted to melt it, it required the flames of Amateratsu, or several prolonged fire jutsu. For all other fire, it didn't even get hot.

It was only conductive of electricity directly formed from chakra. For all other electricity, it was an insulator.

It was impervious to rust unless the water was formed inside the body. Already existing water manipulated by chakra was just as useless as the water it came from.

Luckily for Tali, her Stealth Action Suit came with a chakra separator, much like Admiral Zumaki's Segmented Enhancement Armor. Normally used to separate yin and yang from each other to allow minor repairs – which is why her armor had survived being passed down over 40,000 years – it also allowed the creation of every element within a small radius around her suit.

If she was cold, the suit created fire chakra in order to heat up the surrounding air. If the suit was dirty, a quick application of water chakra usually washed away, followed by a drying courtesy of wind chakra. Earth chakra could strengthen the flexible bodysuit to be as strong as diamond, and lightning chakra powered the entire thing, though there was a battery pack just in case.

It was magnetism caused by the constant back-and-forth between the suit and the wall (which was made of Uzushionium just like every other fixed part of the Citadael), while she stayed connected to the discs because of the strong static generated by her suit due to this action.

She needed the discs because if she had just tried connecting straight to the wall, it would have simply magnetized the wall, while she'd be stuck to it due to static, which was embarrassing enough to think about.

The discs, however, could hold their magnetism long enough for her to remove her hand and place it higher, dragging herself up. A decrease in current allowed her to remove her hand, while an increase allowed the strength required to hold her weight as she pulled herself higher up the wall. The ones on her feet worked the same way, but those were mostly needed when she was crawling along a ceiling to keep her lower half from hanging.

"So cool!" Ashley gushed at seeing a true shinobi skill, with Nihlus nodding in agreement.

The Asari believed the SpecTRes were a counter to the Zorah Clan. The SpecTRes were, in fact, an _homage_ to that brave family.

But there were instances where the original far outstripped its modern-day counterpart, the chakra separator being a prime example. For scientists, separating the two halves of chakra was like trying to separate oil and water with a fork. There was just no way that was happening. And using Lightning Release and having it constantly re-enter your suit simply compounded the chance of something going wrong. The chakra separator was a generator, conductor, and insulator all in one for electric-aligned chakra. There was no risk of problems from that device.

"It's coming in," Jane supplied helpfully as their HUD was updated. Jane saw it first since none of the others had their helmets on, while the redhead's was directly sent to her cybernetic eyes.

There were two turrets on the opposite wall, while their target was standing between them. Standing in a corner near the door was a Human male with a simple pistol.

"That's Fist," Nihlus supplied. "He's the owner of this bar. C-Sec can't find any evidence, but he's in contact with some shady individuals, namely the Shadow Broker... Lady Zorah, can you create a distraction or short out the turrets? If we simply open the doors, it'll just give away the element of surprise we have."

" _Got it. One distraction, coming up!_ " the Quarian responded enthusiastically. Now that she was in her element, she seemed to be coming out of her shell somewhat.

Her element, of course, was stealth and sabatoge. And now that she was surrounded by friendly territory, as well as having back-up, there was no longer a limit on what she could do.

Channeling Lightning Release into a high explosive grenade was never advised unless you had a fully matured Sharingan and fully mastered said element, and even then it wasn't something one normally did.

Of course, if you were a professional saboteur who had been working up to this point for the last fifteen years, then you had a grasp on what to do in this situation, as well.

Impressive shields were the only reason the rogue Turian SpecTRe between the two destroyed turrets wasn't killed in either blast. The Human in the corner, though across the room, fared much worse. Shrapnel was imbedded in his arms and legs, and scorch marks had scored hits on clothing and skin, alike.

Immediately after, the two Human females and two Turian males burst into the room, guns at the ready. Tali dropped down from the overhead vent, pointing her shotgun at the silver-armored Turian. Only Ashley had her weapon pointed at the injured Fist. While he had no weapon, if he decided to charge, the distraction would be enough for a seasoned SpecTRe like Saren Arterius to take advantage of.

"Rushing in as usual, Human," Saren mocked, staring the fuming Jane down. He placed a taloned hand on the wall behind him, tapping a scorch mark caused by the lightning chakra. "Collateral damage is generally frowned upon. Isn't that right, Fist?"

"Gah-haha!" Fist cried out, unable to move his arms much more than lowering them slightly. "Fuck every one of you!" He glared at the assembled group, tears of pain in his eyes. "I hope you die in a _god damn_ fire!"

Nihlus shook his head, HMWP: X still trained on the oldest Turian of the three of them. "You're coming with us, Saren. You're surrounded, outnumbered, and by now C-Sec has cordoned off here and the spaceport. There's no way you can leave the Citadael."

" _Unless I'm already gone, Nihlus_ ," came Saren's voice from their side, where a previously off television – which had escaped damage – now showed the silver-themed Turian on a metallic throne in a dark room, pipes visible on the ceiling. " _Every time you think you're a step ahead of me, I've moved three steps already._ "

Nihlus scowled darkly at the television, before he began pacing back and forth. The 26th Armiger Legion, which he had been a part of, was all about misdirection and subterfuge. What looked like him clenching his fists in anger was actually him tapping out a message to Tali, which appeared on her HUD.

'Track it.'

She and Garrus had been staring at what they thought was Saren, but was apparently a hologram of some sorts. They hadn't actually got close enough in case it was rigged with a proximity sensor, or a laser that triggered when interrupted.

But when that message came up, Tali was quick to trace the signal by sending something through it. A millisecond-long sound bite at 0 volume was more than sufficient for her purpose, and having it play automatically when arriving would mean it got lost in the transmission.

There were a dozen terminals just on the Citadael that the signal bounced to, but it eventually rocketed away, latching onto a comm buoy before using a passing vessel to pass through the Maledicta and-

" _It seems you're trying to find where I am,_ " Saren's cold voice interrupted, causing her to flinch.

"Of course," Nihlus shot back. "You thought I _wanted_ to talk to you for this long?"

" _We are master and-_ "

"We are _enemies_!" Nihlus growled, left eye smoldering. It was almost hypnotic how a single ripple emanated from his pupil, passing over his iris and pulling the blue behind it and turning his normally black sclera violet before it disappeared behind the lid, the eye going back to normal.

Saren was visibly taken aback.

" _The Ri-_ "

"You will die _by my hand_ ," Nihlus promised. "I will find you, use the skills you taught me, and end the threat you pose to this galaxy. You sullied the reputation of the Protectors by using them as your army. You nearly killed myself _and_ Lady Zorah when we stumbled across your operation. You're working with the _Reapers_ , and that is something I have to bring to Admiral Zumaki's attention."

" _Speaking of the Geth..._ " Saren finally managed after viewing the legendary Dojutsu, " _that's not a hologram._ " And with that, the television turned off.

But something turned on in its place.

" _Geth!_ " Tali shouted, watching the orange-lit, silver-plated droid destroy the hologram that had been cloaking it like an aura.

Its Spitfire was raised, the barrels already rotating, warming up and releasing grey smoke from the muzzles.

Protector weapons were special for two significant reasons.

Instead of a full-tilt fire-rate until the weapon overheated, it used a concave down, increasing curve, rising quickly to a point where the barrels cooled as quickly as the shots were fired before plateauing. This meant that weapons from the Protector Armory did not overheat.

The second reason was their ammunition. Highly compressed – and therefore very hot – Indium(III) Sulfide gas was both ejected and cooled by the barrel, which had changed its state to liquid by time it had reached the end. The quick speed at which that liquid metal was traveling meant it was now needle-shaped. When exposed to room temperature, it finally hardened in that shape, which could pierce armor and shields as easily as flesh.

But due to the properties of the compound, it reacted explosively when it came in contact with water, which every organic had an abundance of in their body.

And the grey fire it produced as a muzzle flash was as iconic as the _Jinchuuriki_.

The phase-shifting rounds shattered as they failed to find a target, the _Geth_ tracking Tali relentlessly.

But Tali was used to running; she had been doing so for all her life.

"Duck!" Ashley shouted, seeing the shots get closer and closer to the Quarian. She saw no choice but to dive for the corrupted Protector with her hand wreathed in lightning.

" _ **Chidori!**_ " she shouted, her lightning-encased hand piercing armor and circuitry as easily as water.

The Geth, for it was _not_ a Protector, immediately shut down, Ashley having severed the thick cable that paralleled its spine.

"What _was_ that?" Jane asked, horrified as the Geth slumped to the floor. As someone who had visited the Migranta Fleet, to see the protectors of the loyal Quarian race try to kill one of its most iconic members was... _horrifying_.

Nihlus rubbed his left eye in phantom pain. "Tali," he said instead of answering his protege, "were you able to trace the signal?"

"No," she replied, upset that her hack was found so quickly. "I can only say it left the Serpent Nebula. Since I was tracking the signal, I would have picked up a return signal if he was just giving us the run-around. But it left and didn't return. He caught me as the ship I latched on entered the transference tunnel..."

"During the transference...or just before?" Nihlus muttered before glancing at the Migranta Quarian. "Is it possible the signal came from that ship...that Saren was on it?"

"Theoretically," Tali replied uncertainty, "but it's just as likely that he had used that ship to piggy-back his signal into here, and it was simply coincidence it was leaving as we tracked it."

"Or the ship is under his command, and he used it like you said, Lady Zorah, but wasn't actually on it," Garrus offered. He had spent a year in C-Sec cybercrime, and that had been a more difficult case. "What sort of ship was it?"

"The _Qrow_ ," she replied. "It's labeled as an SSREV... What's that?"

"The coolest fucking thing in the world," Jane replied darkly, glaring death at the screen Saren had used.

"SpecTRe Short-Range Enforcement Vessel. It's a stealth SSTO fighter jet available only to SpecTRes," Nihlus replied, staring at a wall as if it would eventually crack and tell him just what the hell was going on.

"But they revoked his status," Jane said. "That means he shouldn't be able to pilot it."

"He shouldn't have been able to turn it on," Nihlus said lowly. "There's something going on... Something I don't want to believe is true, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense. The fact that this... _abomination_ of a Protector was allowed on the Citadael in the first place..." It was just the first, _most obvious_ , nail in the proverbial coffin.

"We're out of here," he suddenly replied, turning abruptly. There was a stiffness to his gait at the no doubt traitorous thoughts swirling in his mind.

"Where we going?" Jane asked, being just behind and to the right of the tall Turian. Next to her was Garrus, just as eager for the answer, but less pushy than his girlfriend.

"Away from here," he said. "Away from the Citadael, away from the Athena Nebula... I heard the Traverse was great this time of year," he replied with a faint smile.

"Aw yeah!" Ashley said, she and Tali bringing up the rear. "Covert Ops, off the books. No fate but what we make!"

"You Humans and your quotes," Garrus replied in a good-natured jibe, shaking his head.

"Well we got two Turians, and one of them is a SpecTRe, the first Human SpecTRe, myself of course, and Lady Zorah! Nothing's gonna stop us!"

Tali blushed at being called _Lady_ Zorah yet again. "Y-Ya'know," she stuttered, rubbing her hands together nervously, "you can just call me Tali."

"Huh?" Ashley replied eloquently. "Why's that?"

Everyone was now cramped in a skycar. The five of them, in full combat gear, was a tight fit in the four person vehicle. Luckily, both Jane and Tali's outfits were more bodysuits, and the redhead had opted to sit on Garrus' lap, granting a little more space than what normally would have been in this scenario.

"I mean, I'm just Tali. Sure I'm Tali'Zorah nar Migranta-Zorah, and that's supposed to be a big deal 'cuz of what my ancestors did, and I'm the last one now since...since my dad..."

Tali took a deep breath, glancing out the window as ships passed through the Serpent Nebula, igniting the raw chakra there. When it wasn't feeling like it was threatening to tear your ship apart, the myriad of colors that reverberated through the clouds was very beautiful, much like Rannoch's equatorial aurora borealis.

"The point is, whatever my ancestors did, it wasn't me. I have done nothing aside from temporarily delay them every once in a while, and for the last five years, I was the only one doing so. Me. Only me... Me, against an entire planet of Rann Quarians who had a 'Kill On Sight' order for me."

"Isn't that normal?" Jane asked unthinkingly. She, a newly instated SpecTRe, _flinched_ when those slit silver eyes turned to regard her fully. "Sorry," she said.

"No," Tali finally said after nearly a minute of eye-contact, "it wasn't."

And that effectively ended the conversation as the skycar stopped at the Human embassy. Everyone piled out of the small car, grateful for the space.

"I'm going to call Admiral Zumaki," Nihlus said. "He needs to know about...everything that's happened since Eden Prime. Then I'll see about getting us a ship. I'm hoping for a frigate, but we'll probably be getting a corvette." With a quick nod, he separated himself from the group.

"Me 'n Garrus are going shopping!" Jane called out enthusiastically, her switch in emotions unsurprisng. She always was one to jump back up after being knocked down, it seemed.

"We are?" Garrus said, having not been informed of his participation in... _anything_. Then, seeing death tinted pink, quickly changed the tone of his last statement.

"We are," he said, as decisive as a guillotine.

"Get us something nice!" Ashley called out to the duo as they reentered the skycar, more than likely headed to the Silversun Strip. The brunette then turned to the silver-eyed Zorah. "So, where do you want to go La- _Tali_?"

Tali tilted her head, her shoulder-length silver-green hair covering one eye. "I've never been here," she dead-panned.

She was not prepared for Ashley's response. The pseudo-Uchiha placed both hands on her shoulders, staring straight into her luminescent eyes, while her own dark orbs seemed to absorb any light near them, helped by thick mascara and dark eyeshadow.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Ashley's hands creeped up, cupping the Quarian's face as they inched closer and closer.

Suddenly, Ashley pressed, Tali's cheeks squishing together and giving her comical fish lips. She held the younger female in that position for quite a few uncomfortable seconds. Their noses were nearly touching.

"I know."

With that, Ashley released her, laughing at Tali's dumbfounded, blushing face. She could no longer keep the act up.

"Ahhhh..." Ashley sighed after nearly two minutes of laughing at her...well, Tali was basically a _disciple_ in Ashley's religion, wasn't she? The Unitoligist simply smiled, replying "sorry, but you wanna be Tali, not Lady Zorah."

So that was her response to a name change?

"Tell me about the Citadael," Tali finally decided, seeing as they had a pretty good angle on the entire thing. From where they were, the Presidium Tower cut their view in half horizontally.

"Eh," Ashley began, "you want a history lesson? Alright..." She leaned against a wall, staring at the ward arm nearly straight above them. After a second's hesitation, Tali joined her. "Well, that's Zakera Ward. It's got a little bit of everything. Most of the affiliate races stay there, but everyone visits it.

"Tayseri Ward's next to it. It's Asari only. Not much I can say about it, except I heard there was a giant theater there...

"We're on Shalta Ward. The Human Ward officially, but lots of Turians and Quarians stay here, too. Us three hang out a lot for some reason...

"The one behind us," she said, gesturing vaguely in that direction with her head, "is Kithoi Ward. Salarians own that one. Lots of libraries and universities. Some of the banished Asari risk death just to go there. I heard about one Asari, Dana-something or other, that was actually found dead. She was studying more efficient recycling methods and was doing a stint as a sanitation worker..." Ashley shook her head. "Never seen an Asari get down and dirty before." She blushed, then amended, "not in that way, at least... But C-Sec always suspected foul play."

She quickly changed topics. "Last one's Aroch Ward in front of us. Process of elimination should have let you figure that one out," she smiled.

"The Turian Ward," Tali said confidently. It seemed like each of the Council Races had a ward, while Zakera Ward was more of a catch-all.

"Yup," Ashley agreed. "It's mostly them, Quarians, and Humans again, just like here in Shalta."

"You said I was getting a history lesson," Tali said. "This is just exposition." Ashley chuckled at that.

"You need to know where the friendlies are at."

"Shalta and Aroch."

Ashley looked visibly confused. "Not Kithoi? We're good on with the Salarians."

"No," Tali said with finality, shaking her head for emphasis. "That Asari, Dana Whatever; if you think about it, who is the most likely to have killed her? Not Salarians, who were probably getting compensated somehow by letting her work. Not other Asari in the same boat as her, they know how it is..."

"But Asari commandos who were ordered to do just that," Ashley gasped, staring over her shoulder with a new sense of fear. She then turned to Tali, a sense of wonder pervading her visage. "How did you-"

"I had to think like that," Tali said simply, causing the brunette to nod.

Ashley shook her head, before a full-body shiver traveled down her body. She shook her head again once again when it was done.

"Anyways, history lesson. Well, Admiral Zumaki wasn't actually the one to envision the Citadael. That was his sister-in-law, Ino-hime, who called it the Geranium. It was meant to house the warriors and ships of Ninjato during their fight with the Reapers, or Shinigami in Chakran."

"Why?" Tali asked. While she was good at discerning covert operations and other small-scale attacks, such a large-scale operation – involving the entire Chakran Army and Navy – was somewhat beyond her.

"I'll give you a hint: this is always where they meant to put it," Ashley supplied. At Tali's continued non-answer, she replied "they were keeping the Reapers away from Gakure. This is on the exact opposite side of the galaxy from Gakure. Back then, the Reapers weren't as strong, or as smart as they are now.

"The Chakrans had just finished what Admiral Zumaki calls the Galactic War, and were immediately thrust into the Reaper War.

"No one's really sure where the Reapers came from, but they existed during the Galactic War, which was against Leviathans and Kaiju, but didn't attack until after the Chakrans had won.

"Anywho, the first Geranium wasn't made of Uzushionium, and the Reapers eventually destroyed it, along with most of Ninjato's ships and warriors. After that, it was just him, Sasuke-sama, and Hanabi-hime. Unfortunately, Sarada-hime, Ino-hime, Shino-sama, Gaara-sama, and Konohamaru-sama had all died by that point. Oh, um, those eight were the leaders of Chouwa no Kuni, which was the first and only successful Ninshuu village.

"After a while, Admiral Zumaki was the only one left alive, and the Reapers decided that since they couldn't kill him, the fact that he was the last of his race meant there would be no more Chakrans, which would have to do."

"They let him live?" Tali asked incredulously. That was nothing like what she knew about the Reapers.

"They had no choice," Ashley replied with a smirk. "They couldn't hurt him, and he was killing them by the dozens. They knew Chakrans needed a male and female to have a baby, so figured just leaving him alive was better than becoming extinct by his hand, instead.

"But let me finish," Ashley finally said. "Admiral Zumaki created the Geranium, out of Uzushionuim this time, in hopes that whatever race found it would be able to hide inside during the Harvest...

"But the Reapers had replicated the Leviathans' thrall ability, and used the Inusannon to open the Geranium during their Harvest. Admiral Zumaki was only able to save a few thousands-"

" _Only?_ " Tali said in disbelief. That sounded like a lot when dealing with a Harvest.

"The Inusannon population was somewhere in the tens of _Trillions_ when the Reapers came," Ashley explained. In that sense, a few thousand was lint in your pocket compared to a wad of hundreds. "When Admiral Zumaki confronted the Protheans, they blatantly refused him, so he closed the Geranium to them and hid with a race that would eventually evolve into the Quarians. When the Reapers came, Admiral Zumaki locked down the Maledicta connecting Rannoch to the rest of the galaxy."

"What happened to the Protheans?" Tali asked. Had Admiral Zumaki really just let an entire race die because they slighted him?

"They died," Ashley said simply. "They were arrogant after defeating a machine race known as the Zha'til, and believed they didn't need him. They tried to imprison him, they tried to forcefully open the Geranium, but neither were successful.

Ashley quickly changed the subject. That was a sore spot for Unitologists, though it was mitigated somewhat by his crying for Deoxys. "Admiral Zumaki waited until the Reapers were gone and allowed the Quarians free reign of the galaxy. They were the ones to rename the Geranium into the Citadael."

Ashley shrugged. "That's it. Quarians couldn't stay there due to their immune systems and it was eventually found by the Asari. And here we are."

"Tell me about Unitoligy," Tali said, absorbing info like a sponge. As long as Ashley was offering, she'd take advantage of that offer.

And so the two of them sat there for nearly an hour, Ashley explaining her religion and how it escalated the space race, making Humans the fastest aside from the Chakrans to go from propulsion to space-flight.

How there were extreme elements of the religion that performed mass suicides in the world's rivers.

How there was almost planet-wide peace due to the fact that their deity was very clear on what he meant by certain passages.

How their religious text was simply his autobiography, and was almost 3 million words and nearly 15,000 pages long.

The spoke about other things Ashley was knowledgeable about that Tali wasn't, such as modern technological advancements and weapon specifications. That probably took the longest out of all the topics they had discussed.

By time they were finished, the Citadael had entered its night cycle. Just as the two were about to borrow guest rooms at the embassy, however, a skycar touched down.

Jane hopped out, excited for something. Garrus, as well, didn't look like the typical 'man who had been forced to go shopping by his significant other', either, actually carrying four black cases of various length and bulk, while Jane was carrying a mid-sized one, herself.

"What're those?" Ashley asked, confused at the couple's grins.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Jane teased sticking her tongue out.

"We would," Ashley deadpanned, almost making the redhead trip.

"Stop teasing them," Garrus replied. "Give them to them so I don't have to carry them," he added, showing his own motive.

"Are these...for us?" Tali asked, almost afraid of asking.

"Well, us and Kaidan. Nihlus already has one," Jane said, confusing the two females until she popped open her case.

A matte black weapon was on a black cushion to prevent damage inside the glossy black case, while red lights striped the front near the muzzel. Next to two equally black thermal clips was a metallic black plaque, while silver letters spelled out the type of weapon it was.

 _HMWA: X_ – a SpecTRe-issued assault rifle.

Ashley nearly fainted. "C-Can I... I-I-"

Garrus finally had enough, setting the cases down. They noticed the top of the cases had a white arch, with three stars inside in a triangular formation. It was the symbol for the SpecTRes. Said symbol was identical to that of the Zorah Clan, though the arch was purple, the top star was gold, and the bottom stars were grey and silver.

It was also similar to the symbol for the Systems Alliance, who had imitated – not outright copied – the Zorah symbol.

Humanity's held a red arch, while a blue circle meant to symbolize Earth was in the middle, surrounded by eight white stars, one for each successfully colonized garden world aside from Earth.

The top, smallest case was set aside – "for Kaidan," Jane told them – to allow Garrus to hand Ashley a case with identical dimensions to Jane's.

"And this is for you, Lady Tali," Garrus said, handing her a case which, while similar to the other two females', was much thicker.

Tali dropped to her knees, placing the case reverently down as she popped the lid open.

 _HMWSG: X_ – the SpecTRe shotgun.

Tali wept tears of joy at the flat black weapon, two horizontal red strip lights near the front end. She had never been given a gift before. In fact, she was pretty sure her father didn't even _know_ when her birthday was, though her mother's diary gave a hint, narrowing it to the first two weeks of October.

Next to the weapon was another item. The plaque was askew, not meant to be there in a weapon case when it was simply advertising a bracelet, but what a bracelet it was.

The plaque read _HMOT: X_. It was a SpecTRe-grade Omni-tool.

Tali scrambled up, hugging the redhead with all the strength she could muster. Even Garrus, who had opened his HMWSR: X to show it off, was stopped in his tracks as the now-emotional Quarian hugged his girlfriend.

"Damn, that's cute," Jane muttered. "She fell asleep."

It seemed the day had finally caught up to young Tali'Zorah. The emotional roller-coaster that had been the last 12 hours finally took its toll, deciding an inopportune nap was compensation enough.

For now...

-X-

 **5882 words without AN's?! NOICE!**

 **This one came out super-fast. What's it been? A week? And that includes me posting a chapter for Operation: Eden, too!**

 **Shout-out to my fans who love this story. And more than a few have found this, then went to my page and favorited two stories! That's amazing.**

 **Let's see here. Here's a few stats that are mind-boggling(circa 1:45 PM EST on 10/26):**

 **75 reviews! And they're so positive I archive them and show them off to my family. So I truly appreciate your love for this story.**

 **Follows/Faves: 463/361! I'm sure there's some crossing over between the two, but that is phenomenal! Protecting River, my second most popular despite being the only one in the Naruto/Serenity crossover(there's a single one in Naruto/Firefly as well), has 88/75. That's a fifth!**

 **Communities: 8. Not sure what those are, but it's in eight of them. It seems to be a more specific favorites list.**

 **Views: 34,609! What!? I don't even think I've talked to that many people! In my life!**

 **You guys... You guys are amazing.**

 _ **Sigh**_ **, now on to important stuff for those of you who actually read the AN at the end.**

 **I was thinking about creating a . I know, I know, I never wanted to do it either. Coeur Al'Aran has one so he can quit his job. He also offers writing advice and skype calls if you give him $100 a month.**

 **And three people have done it.**

 **I...am not that greedy. Nor am I that talented to offer advice.**

 **I'm a pretty good grammar beta. Y'know, spelling, punctuation, and all that stuff. I do my own beta work, and when I read back, I see maybe one mistake every other chapter, so if there's two of us, it'll be perfect.**

 **I have LibreOffice and Microsoft Word if that matters.**

 **The point is...I _need_ money. I've been searching for a job for almost two months now, but my car was totaled near the end of July 'cuz some idiot ran a red light and t-boned me, and I lost my job the first week of September, limiting my search area to about 5 miles since I have a rickety little bike with a pedal that won't stay on. I live with my mom, and she provides me with a room, utilities, and dinner.**

 **Breakfast and lunch are not a constant promise. _Internet_ is not promised. My mom barely uses it.**

 **What I'm saying is...if I opened one, would you pledge at least a dollar? I think it's a monthly thing, but at the same time, if you do that, I will beta read for you. I'm not a good muse, but I can help with that if you want as well.**

 **I'm supposed to be paying my mom $100 a week for the above-mentioned perks. At the same time, she told me that until I get a job, I can pay her $50 a week.**

 **So my first goal would be $250 a month, and if I reach that, I could rest easy knowing I'd have internet to keep writing, as well as more time to search for a job. I could also increase the chapter length by a thousand words, making them 6-7k word chapters.**

 **At the same time, if it seems like you are really into it, I could up it to $500 a week, and focus full time on writing, meaning the chapters could actually come out two a week. This is just to show I _can_ write this fast. I've been laser-focused on this and spending an hour searching for jobs. But if that happens, I can make this my main focus.**

 **There's a poll on my profile if you think I should open one. I won't if you think it's a bad idea.**

 **Sorry for the long AN, but this is important, and I want your opinion.**

 **Next chapter is for Protecting River, then its back to this one.**

 **See you all then.**

 **Ja Ne!**


	9. More Questions than Answers

KrossoverXKing presents lucky Chapter 9 of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a _Mass Effect_ and _Naruto_ crossover.

Disclaimer in first few chapters

 **Got some foreshadowing this chapter for a plot idea I came up with last night. Luckily for me, it's a retcon that has nothing I've already written able to stop it. It's to explain a few things I thought about when re-reading the story.**

 **I always read the last five chapters, the new one included, before I post the new chapter. Makes sure it has that _flow~~~_**

 **And I think I was right about Protecting River only being as popular as it is due to this one. I mean, Operation: Eden has a loyal fanbase, and Hart of Gold is nearly devoid of life despite the fact that it's the next chapter I write.**

 **But the thing is, Protecting River is the only Naruto/Serenity crossover on this site, and its follow/favorite count is 104/82 as I write this. That's ten more of each since 12 hours ago, and almost a thousand more views. I can only assume it's people who see it on other authors' pages, or have followed and favorited me. So thank all of you for that. Honestly, that story is my baby, while this one is my pet project.**

 **Also, because this is the 9th Chapter, I figured a cameo by the Jinchuuriki of all 9 Biju is in order, ne?**

 **But enough of all that! You came for my story, not my rambling. Take this glossary and be on your way.**

 **Admiral Zumaki/Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko – Naruto, of course.**

 **Raan/Migranta – Raan are Quarians on Rannoch. Migranta are Quarians loyal to Admiral Zumaki.**

 **NDF – Ninjato Defense Fleet: The navy of Ninjato. Its ships are split between the Migranta Fleet and the Citadael.**

 **Maledicta – Multi-Lateral/Directional Chakran Transference Array – a Mass Relay.**

 **Protector – Geth that are still loyal to the Migranta Quarians. Unlike the games, these Geth are in the minority.**

 **URSC – United Races Space Command: A combination of Human ingenuity, Turian militarism, and Salarian technology all stuffed into one naval fleet. Each race also had their personal fleets in their home system, but the URSC was created to protect all of their colonies jointly.**

-X-

 _There were three ways to learn about a person, especially one as famous as Admiral Zumaki: Books, eyewitness accounts, and meeting them in person._

 _But there were flaws inherent in each one._

 _No matter how much they strive not to be, books are inherently biased by the author and the time period. An example for the Humans reading this, Napoleon Bonaparte wasn't actually short for his time. He was 5'6", which was on the tall side of average for his time. However, because books about him were written hundreds of years later, he was short for the time. Therefore, books called him short._

 _Eyewitness accounts are always biased towards the eyewitness. Two people could meet the same person, but would have wildly different views of the experience if one hated them and the other adored them. So who is right? If one calls them 'hot' and the other says they are ugly, is the person merely average?_

 _Even meeting someone in person has its flaws._ You _are the author._ You _are the eyewitness. Furthermore, if the person you meet is expecting it, they may be using a false persona, and may be a completely different person behind closed doors. However, you would never know because they would not show you._

 _But Admiral Zumaki is different. Everything always seemed biased towards him. Benevolent, humble, powerful, smart, good-looking... No one ever seemed to have anything bad to say about the leader of the Migranta Quarians and the deity of three-fourths of sentient population._

 _Meeting him is like drowning in pleasure that transcends carnal inclinations. It's like basking in the rays of the sun while it stands next to you. His chakra is like the ocean: vast, all-encompassing, yet soothing at the same time. He has tamed a force of nature because he is one himself, and he treats it like he does any other feat he performs: necessary, but easy._

 _I don't know... Maybe I'm biased as well. I'm just an eyewitness, after all, and you're reading this in a biased book. Maybe you should meet him for yourself, see if you feel the same or not._

 _An excerpt from The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko – Page 18_

Tali awoke with a gasp in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. Given that her room on Rannoch was more often than not a forest or cave, while her bed was the ground – be it rock or dirt – made it easy for her to realize the pastel walls and silk sheets were unrecognizable.

She took a mere second to sweep the room for hostiles, though her lack of weapon meant she could do nothing even if there were.

Only a lone Turian was in the room, his off-black armor lit with red lights – the archetypal 'bad guy' colors. But he seemed non-hostile, despite his imposing presence and impressive loadout.

"Lady Tali," he said softly as he could, the dual vocal cords meaning the quietest voice he could muster was a stage-whisper, despite the irony of such a statement.

"Nihlus," she recognized finally, the last vestiges of sleep leaving her as she took in her lavish surroundings. "Where are we?"

"Human Embassy," he stated simply, as if it should have been obvious, which it kinda was. She passed out in front of it, she recalled embarrassingly. "We figured we should let you sleep it off, but you woke up the very next morning, albeit a late morning; you looked like you needed more rest than that."

Tali wouldn't deny that. She had taken shock after shock to her system since leaving Rannoch a few days ago, and had gotten very little sleep aside from her stint of unconsciousness after the Eden Prime attack.

"I did, thank you," she replied, sending a burst of nature chakra since her flower necklace seemed to be wilting. It was only temporary; she was only forcing vitality in them, but the nutrients they needed were absent in such a method. She just needed them to keep working until she got back to the _Normandy_. If you forgot about your hunger, sure you'd be fine for a while, but it would come back with a vengeance if you didn't eat something. If your phone was dying and you took it off power saver mode, your screen would brighten, sure, but your phone would die quicker than if you kept it dim,

It was then that Tali realized something that should have been obvious when she looked around earlier: they were alone. "Where's everyone else?"

"Downstairs greeting our guest. Ms. Williams is especially star-struck by his presence." With that ambiguous answer, he stopped leaning on the wall and began to leave. "He wants to see you, too," he told the silver-haired Quarian, leaving.

Tali took it as the cue it was. She combed her fingers through her hair, checked a mirror for any smudges she may have garnered yesterday, and left the room.

Tali had an inkling of who the SpecTRe was talking about, but could scarcely believe what his insinuations pointed to. She had three clues, and only one person she knew of that fit all three criteria.

The person was a male, by the pronouns Nihlus used.

Ashley was 'star-struck' by his presence.

He wanted to see her.

The person was either a high-ranking General or...

"Well, hello, Tali'Zorah nar Migranta-Zorah... I thank you and your family for all you have done," praised Admiral Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko as he bowed to the much younger girl.

Tali, for her part, was as speechless as Ashley seemed to be, given the brunette's wide, teary-eyed face as she stared at her literal _god_. With a capital 'G'.

Her God.

Admiral Zumaki tilted his head, cerulean gaze meeting Tali's amethyst eyes as he continued. "I was studying a burst of space-time energy in the Phoenix Massing Cluster when Nihlus, here, gave me the run-down of events since they landed on Eden Prime. What do you know of the Raan Quarians' strength when you left? Moreover, _why_ did you decide to leave?"

"I...I was the last one. The last Zorah loyal to you. I wanted to do more. It was me against every Quarian on Rannoch and I couldn't do much but I did what I could and it still wasn't enough because they kept growing and I couldn't stop them so I figured if I found you then I-"

"Shh..." he said softly, placing a thumb under each eye and wiping the tears there away. "Calm, Tali'Zorah. What you did was more than anyone could have asked of you." He placed a hand on each shoulder; standing nearly a foot taller than her slight frame. "You, Tali'Zorah, are what every Quarian on the Migranta Fleet aspires to be, though precious few have come close to your sacrifice."

He pressed his lips to her forehead, a gesture more familial than romantic, and Tali could feel her chakra _sing_ as it coursed through her veins, the radiance of the man in front of her causing her internal energy to thrum just underneath her skin.

It was _intoxicating_...

She gasped, clutching his cloak even as he pulled away, bemused by her actions.

Then he noticed her eyes.

They were amber, not amethyst, with a black bar in the center.

This...was interesting.

-X-

Undisclosed Location

-X-

"I still don't think this is a good idea," the first speaker said, exasperated.

"Duly noted, but she needs this more than we do," replied the second, unfazed by the first speaker's lack of enthusiasm.

"That doesn't mean we don't need it," the first countered, trying to get the second to see reason.

"It means she needs it more. And it's our duty to give it to her," said the second stubbornly. This was how the first always was.

The first sighed "Fine. Do whatever you want. You're as stubborn as your ancestors," shot the first, trying to get a rise out of the second.

"You know I consider that a compliment, right?" asked the second, almost laughing in the first's face.

"...Of course you do."

And so the two speakers left to ' _finalize_ _the_ _paperwork_ ' as it were.

-X-

Human Embassy – 1st Floor Guest Room

-X-

"So you're saying the Raan Quarians had a Kill-on-Sight order on you, and this was unusual...why?"

Tali had been talking to Admiral Zumaki for over an hour now. He had apologized for utilizing his Sharingan to lower her shock and embarrassment, which apparently meant she wasn't embarrassed about rambling or crying in front of everyone. He swore he did it with everyone so they had an easier time talking to him without tripping over their words. He had then pulled her into a side room, away from everyone else.

It was only the two of them in the room, as per her request. Most of this was personal, and she didn't really know the rest of them well enough yet to tell them her life story.

And what a life it was.

"They liked to torture us," Tali replied evenly. It was always one of those fears in the back of her mind, that since she was a female Zorah saboteur, they would torture her in a way only females could be tortured.

The Raan High Council, the elders who presided over Rannoch and all Raan Quarians, placed the kill-on-sight order on her head for three reasons.

The first reason was genetics – she could escape far better than most due to her being double-jointed. It was a mutation the Zorahs had been unconsciously nurturing for thousands of years. The more flexible you were, the easier you could get out of your binds and escape, thus survive. Those who weren't flexible, died. This accumulated into Tali, who was able to dislocate her joints and free herself.

The second reason was racism – they didn't want their people to rape Tali any more than she wanted to be raped. They didn't want their soldiers to _sully_ themselves with a Zorah, especially when they were so close to ridding themselves of them. That was perfectly fine with her; she'd rather be dead than raped any day.

The last reason was the most depressing – as she was the last one, the main reason they captured Zorahs before – to torture them so other Zorahs came to try and save them – was obsolete, so they decided to simply kill her.

The Admiral brushed some hair behind her ear, staring deep into her, once again, purple orbs. But suddenly his hand blurred, grasping something just over her left shoulder before he smiled at her. His hand remained shut.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, Tali'Zorah. I've no doubt we'll meet again in the near future."

Tali raised a hand to stop him. For what, she did not know. But it was in vain. His rugged jaw had set into a grim line as soon as he broke eye contact with her. His white cloak billowed outwards as he strode out the door, back into the entrance hall, and only giving a curt nod to all present.

Outside, Tali just made out him throwing something in the air before the door closed.

 _Krrrrmmmm..._

And like that, Tali was left alone.

Or, she would have been, had she not met the crew of the Normandy.

Nihlus, Jane, Garrus, Ashley, and even Kaidan walked in after the Admiral had left. She realized just how _not_ alone she was as they surrounded her, making sure she was okay after the mini-interrogation she had just went through.

It was good to have friends.

-X-

Phoenix Massing Cluster – NDF _Yoko_ – Laboratory

-X-

"Well?" he asked impatiently to the black-and-silver suited Quarian leaning over an aether microscope.

"It's the same signature, though, of course, there still the main question," she replied to the Admiral cryptically.

"Whose signature is it?" he finished gravely, staring out a nearby viewport as the Migranta Fleet got in line to use the Yoko's built-in Maledicta to go to their next destination.

Apparently, Sur'Kesh was in need of a few mechanical engineers.

He shook his head and turned back to his head scientist. "Tear that energy apart, Daro. I want to know everything you can find about who created that anomaly and why it broke now after thousands of years."

"Of course, Admiral," Daro'Xen vas Yoko replied dutifully, pulling back a loose sleeve over her suit and revealing a myriad of devices strapped to her arm.

He nodded and touched a Hiraishin seal near the door, instantaneously teleporting himself to the bridge and setting a course for the Annos Basin.

Using a haptic interface, he turned the behemoth ship around, using the black hole in the center of the galaxy to curve the transference tunnel enough that they could make one trip. Because the denizens of the Terminus Systems knew the only ways to destroy a Migranta ship.

EMPs, chakra-formed plasma, and Dust.

EMPs completely bypassed the Uzushionium and attacked the electronics of the ships, Quarians' suits included. So they suffocated if the kept their helmets on or took them off.

Chakra-formed plasma was the only _weapon_ that damaged the ships' hulls, though they could only bypass one layer at a time, causing the entire fleet to have to update to layered armor. That, of course, took time and money away from the fleet and the Migranta Quarians as a whole, which prompted them to almost completely boycott that half of the Milky Way.

Dust was actually chakra in comet form. A grain of regular dust or a small rock, or even a tiny piece of debris would accumulate chakra as it passed through the clouds formed by chakra-emmitting gas giants. After many passes of this, it would then need to run afoul of some ice, with the chakra acting as glue.

Depending on many different factors, the Dust would then turn the ice a certain color as it suffused itself throughout. Those colors were red (fire), orange (earth), yellow (lightning), green (wind), blue (water), black (yang), white (yin), and purple (an even mix of all the others), and the more pure the color, the more pure the chakra type.

As chakra was the only thing that could destabilize the bonds of Uzushionium, conventional rounds had no effect on the ships, aside from moving them off course if they had enough kinetic energy. Dust, however, was easily able to pierce the multiple layers of Chakran metal, and many degenerates who frequented Omega and hated the Quarian people usually booby-trapped the volatile comets. They would drill a hole in one and place a bomb inside with a proximity sensor.

The effects were akin to a fragmentation grenade.

After finishing the last of his calculations, he ordered the fleet forward, glad he had the foresight to install the ambient absorption seals on the ships, which fed into the X-9. As it wasn't a part of the grid, and he had just planned a jump which literally crossed the entire galaxy, his Maledicta required chakra to utilize.

The others were made to absorb solar radiation instead of chakra, which wasn't really an option for him when he usually kept the ship's dome closed to avoid the chakra cloud associated with Maledictas. A lack of sensors was a toss-up for the Migranta Quarians this close to the border of the Terminus. Both Batarians and Vorcha hated them for the most part, while Asari were 50/50. Humans, Turians, and Salarians respected them, but they would attack if they thought the risk was manageable.

Those who were on good terms with them participated in war games should they agree to the no-killing rule and use special rounds which simulated real attacks and weapons which stunned instead of killed.

At the same time, should the Migranta Quarians successfully repel the attacks, there was no animosity from the gangs.

Naruto, of course, saw it as it was – training for the Reapers. Each gang was promised a certain reward if they subdued a ship, the reward depending on the size of the ship they captured.

On the other side, if the Quarians were able to stop this from happening, the gangs had to compensate _them_ in some way.

As it was harder to subdue or disable than kill, the groups would have a cakewalk ahead of them when the Reapers' ground force navy came.

"Strap yourselves in," he called out on the ship-wide channel, "we transfer soon as everyone else is through."

The difference between this ship actually being a Maledicta and traveling through one in another ship meant a higher gravity output on the crew the further you were from the chakra core that made up every Maledicta due to the dispersal of space-time energy which gave the constructs their power. The problem was that the _Yoko_ was larger than the X-9 Maledicta it housed, naturally, and therefore the dispersal was spread much more thin over the entire thing.

On the other hand, it could theoretically go faster than a normal Maledicta when it came to regular-sized ships due to how much more chakra it could coat them in.

The ships passed through the now-open dome, where the rings were, before shooting down the tunnel that encompassed the prongs. The X-9 Maledicta was hidden inside what was essentially a giant Liveship (despite the fact that it was they who based their ships off of his), though every habitable area was built on the edge of the sphere, allowing it to still open.

After the final ship passed through, the rings began spinning faster, the core glowing almost white as the gas surrounded and coated the ship in Jikukan and Jinton chakras. He felt perspiration dot his brow as he poured more of the required chakra into the device.

Most Maledictas used five key elements to work, and three devices.

Solar radiation, dark matter, eezo, ambient raw chakra, and a Juubi seed. The core of every transference array was an unfinished chakra-emitting gas giant, being stuck in its proto-planet state due to the spinning of the rings.

A large chakra generator used four of the raw materials to create the two chakra types, those being space/time and swift releases, while eezo was kept separate for the time being.

The ejectors made sure the ships went in the right direction.

The rings stored all of the energy the generator had created until the ships needed it. Then eezo made the ship weigh less than nothing to allow it to travel faster than light.

The X-9 was similar, except for the fact that it couldn't absorb solar radiation and dark matter to create the two chakras. So instead, Naruto had to do it himself. He wasn't exactly doing it to keep the Maledicta secret. Just about every race and their genetic ancestor knew what the ship actually was. The problem was the fact that if an enemy got too close, they would be flung forward as if using a regular Maledicta, and Naruto kept the ejector tunnel blast doors closed except for times like this.

A ship being flung at such a high velocity would destroy that part of the ship _Yoko_ , seeing as the ship that would have crashed would be saturated with chakra enough to damage the Uzushionium that, of course, made up the _Yoko_.

As the two chakras coated the _Yoko_ , the leader of Ninjato sat down beside him and strapped in. The man wore predominately red and gold, and carried himself like a distinguished war veteran, which he was.

Kal'Reegar vas Yoko had led the secretive Quarian group on many successful S-rank and above missions. He was also descended from Ryu'Reegar vas Garuda, much like how young Tali'Zorah was a direct descendant of Chrysa'Zorah.

"Sitrep," he ordered formally. He normally tried to be less strict with his subordinates aboard the _Yoko_ , but both Daro and Kal refused anything but decisive action and strict protocol.

"It's bad, sir," Kal said, shaking his head. "Not only is Lady Zorah's information horribly outdated, but it seems as if every Protector that was keeping watch over Rannoch is...gone."

"And the forces that gave us this information?" asked the blonde softly. He hated seeing the Migranta Quarians lose anyone, but missions like those were vital to the security of the whole fleet, not to mention the galaxy, which would not be prepared for a technologically advanced race bent on revenge which did not heed the armistice treaty on dreadnought limitation.

"There was only one survivor," Kal replied, looking more angry than sad as he said so. It confused the blonde until he continued. "Han'Gerrel."

And no doubt Xen would break her usually cold exterior to give the man some choice expletives. The Gerrels were not a part of the Migranta Quarians that left Rannoch. In fact, there were still members of other races alive today who could remember a time without the Gerrels. They were born of a Reegar/Xen marriage, which in and of itself was no big deal.

The problem was that those two were in jail for crimes involving slavery (of other Migranta Quarians, including their own family members), smuggling (much needed supplies as well as valuable and priceless items), and terrorism (giving out the fleet's location to the more hostile Terminus gangs, Asari, Batarians, and Raan Quarians). The wife gave birth to a son in prison, whom she named Gerrel'Reegar.

Gerrel eventually went on to marry a Turian, which they gave the child the _last_ name of Gerrel. That Turian proceeded to marry back into the fleet, with no one connecting the dots until a century later.

Han was the last of that line, and while it wasn't fair to punish the (grand)son for the sins of the (grand)father, the two heads still disliked the man, especially seeing how he was very vocal about his opinion of their two clans.

"Lucky him," Naruto muttered, remembering to keep an eye on the shifty man. Despite his role, he didn't want to act as a dictator and kick people off when he had suspicions about them, regardless of the evidence he had.

The blonde gave one last call for everyone to strap in, then punched it, the pale blue tunnel spiraling into existence in front of the ship before it was all gone.

Had they stayed a minute longer, they would have come face to face with a heavily damaged Protector dreadnought, filled with the heretics of the 50th millenium of the 403rd Harvest Cycle.

Those Protectors still loyal to Admiral Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko, helmed by the Protector whom he saved all those years ago on Rannoch. The only Protector that was from that era that hadn't shut down.

Legion. For he had a mission, and he wouldn't stop until Naruto-savior relieved him of duty.

-X-

Citadael – Docking Bay N-23

-X-

"What'd you want me to see?" Jane asked Nihlus as the group huddled on the walkway outside the _Normandy_. While it was shielded to allow it to have breathable atmosphere, there wasn't much one could do about the fact that space was as close to absolute zero as one could get in any laboratory.

"I've just been informed by Captain Anderson that he and Udina had a talk while we were busy with Admiral Zumaki. He's stepping down as commanding officer of the _Normandy_ , and you're stepping up," the Turian replied in a tone reminiscent of someone who had made many speeches before. He also stood there at attention, almost mocking the others' reaction to the cold temperatures.

Captain Anderson gave a nod when the redhead turned her fuchsia eyes to him. "She's quick, quiet, and you know the crew. It's the perfect ship for a SpecTRe, even if it wasn't designed as such, but I know you'll treat each other well."

Jane was stunned at the sudden change of command, as well as the fact that it was going to her. But right now wasn't the time for stuttered questions of disbelief. It was time to put up, or shut up.

"I-I'll take good care of her, sir," Jane replied dutifully, cursing herself since she still stuttered.

"I know you will, Jane," he said with a soft smile, placing a hand on her shoulder as he began walking away from the group and towards the elevator. "Nihlus will be your CO from now on."

The dark-themed Turian watched the master leave the student behind. He was glad David knew when it was time to let your pupil spread their wings and overtake you, as they all should strive to do. He saw a teacher who was better than their students as a failure of a teacher. It was how progress was made.

They all stepped inside the _Normandy_ , which was thankfully warmer than outside, allowing the decontamination process to run its course. Afterwords, they stood just inside the airlock.

"Saren's gone," Nihlus replied without preamble. "We only know he's not here, and that still leaves the rest of the galaxy. Our best guess is that he'd need an Asari scholar or historian for the vision he has in his head; the reason he attacked Eden Prime was the Beacon. It was the only thing of value for him. He hates Humans, sure, but he wouldn't have revealed that he had a Reaper and the Geth just to attack a relatively small town."

"And Protheans used neural messages, but since he's not a Prothean, it would just be a confusing mass of images, if he got anything at all," Kaidan replied, the group's resident scholar on matters of the mind.

Nihlus nodded at the tanned male. "Exactly. He would also need a sentient life form that was alive at the same time the Protheans were-"

"The Admiral!?" Tali called out in alarm, causing Ashley to also go wide-eyed at the implications of Saren and a Reaper appearing in the middle of the Migranta Fleet, just for the rogue SpecTRe to perform a lobotomy on the unifying factor of most sentient life.

Garrus, meanwhile, couldn't help but laugh, earning him a punch in the arm from his girlfriend. While it doubtless hurt her more than him – thank Spirits for armor plating – he still shut up.

"Doubtful," Nihlus said once the two females were calm. "A Human settlement on Feros went dark recently after ExoGeni found what they called ' _Species 37_ ', said to be tens of thousands of years old, perhaps even older than the Protheans. We also got unconfirmed reports of Geth shortly before the blackout, as well.

"There's also a Prothean dig site in the Artemis Tau Cluster which has gone completely under. There were multiple sites and every one has stopped reporting in. I only say this because Liara T'Soni, a well-known Prothean archeologist, may fit Saren's purpose perfectly.

"Lastly, Noveria also mentioned something about needing a SpecTRe to investigate Peak 15. They saw something being air-dropped there a few weeks ago, and their scouts never made it through the Aleutsk Valley. In the report, they said Protector dropships were being used, which is why it took them so long to investigate."

Jane nodded along with Nihlus as he spoke. She wasn't sure how he got all this information, though she assumed it was a perk due to being a SpecTRe under someone as accomplished as Saren Arterius had been. Nihlus had only been a SpecTRe for about eight years so far, so she doubted he made the contacts himself. He was probably using Saren's old information network. It was likely the silver-themed SpecTRe had left it behind in favor of the Geth and Reapers.

She suddenly realized everyone was staring at her. "What?"

"Where do you want to go first?" Nihlus asked. "You're in charge, after all."

"Feros," she decided decisively. There were no talks of Geth in the Artemis Tau Cluster, and the people on Noveria were fine for now, so long as they didn't try to get to Peak 15. But the colonists on Feros were probably under quarantine, and therefore not getting supplies anymore. "Right now, they need it the most."

"Feros it is, then," Nihlus replied with a nod. "Let your pilot know and I'll figure out accommodations for Lady Zorah and a more permanent one for Miss Williams."

Jane agreed, and she and Garrus walked the ten steps to the cockpit.

"I heard," came a gruff, young voice from the pilot's seat. Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau waved a hand absently over the seat. "Heard what happened to Captain Anderson, too. Man survives a hundred battles, then gets taken out by backroom politics."

"He stepped down," Jane corrected. "He gave the ship to me since I'm a SpecTRe now."

 _Normandy_ 's pilot sighed. "Just watch your back, Commander. Things go bad on this mission, it's your head on the chopping block."

"I know," she replied evenly, "but I know you've got my back, Joker."

She placed a hand on his shoulder, mindful of his Vrolik's Syndrome. It was a Spacer disease, owing to the lower gravity and lack of actual food. Sure, the URSC made some pretty good imitations, and packed it with all the vitamins and nutrients the Human body needed, but that same body wasn't stupid. It could tell when sustenance was artificially created – meats especially – and punished people in various ways.

When the milk it got wasn't directly from a cow, especially during pregnancy, one had to make sure their body was actually taking in the calcium and vitamin D. Conversely, if that same person just took supplements without trying to trick the body into thinking they were eating real food, there was no problems.

Unfortunately, such was only discovered in the last ten years, too late for Joker's mother and Joker.

"Until mine breaks," he muttered, morbidly joking about his affliction. The dark sarcasm was what earned him the nickname Joker during flight school.

They were silent as Joker pulled away from the Citadael, passing around Turian crusiers as it threaded its way to the Maledicta

"I still feel wrong taking the _Normandy_. It's like I'm stealing it from him to go on a galaxy-wide joyride."

Joker chuckled as he input the coordinates for the Hercules System in the Attican Beta Cluster. "Yeah, Cap got screwed, but it's not like you could've stopped it. No one blames you for it. Everyone's still behind you, Jane. One hundred percent."

Jane rubbed her neck in embarrassment, feeling it get hot. At the same time, Garrus began rubbing her shoulders, trying to calm her down.

Their relationship was more based on gestures than words, as neither was very good at saying how they felt about the other. Their confession consisted of a half-hour long stutter-fest lesson on how to backtrack as they made a day of hanging out at the Armax Arsenal Arena.

"You got anything you wanna say to the crew, Commander? I can open general comms for you, do it before we really get in anything."

"Do it," she ordered.

"This is Commander Shepard speaking," Jane began, depressing the button Joker pointed out. "We have our orders. Find Saren, find out what he did to the Protectors and what he's doing with the Reapers. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy. Our enemy knows we're coming. We're following his path, and he's sure to have left a few surprises for us. But if Admiral Zumaki taught me anything, it's that the best way to deal with a trap is to spring it, and we'll be ready for whatever pops out. We need to do this. This isn't a Human thing. It's not a Turian thing. It's for every species in the galaxy. We have to stop Saren, and I swear to you all that we will.

"Admiral Zumaki wants to see us all work together, and that's what we're going to do."

"Well said, Commander. Captain Anderson would be proud," Joker praised.

"He's not in charge any more," Jane replied darkly, startling both men. "I am."

"Umm...Jane?" Garrus asked tentatively, unsure about this particular mood swing. He became doubly alarmed when she began shaking.

He became understandably confused when she bust out laughing.

"Sorry, sorry..." Jane was leaning against a wall a minute later, wiping tears of mirth away. "No. You're right, Joker. It was just getting really...really, really bleak, and I don't do bleak."

"C'mon, Jane," Garrus said in exasperation. "We'll talk later, Joker."

"Mm-hmm," the pilot muttered, putting in a few last-minute adjustments as the ship lined up with the Maledicta. "See ya."

-X-

Citadael – Zakera Ward Civilian Docking Bays

-X-

"Stupid Shepard," Urdnot Wrex grunted as he squeezed himself into his personal ship. It was just large enough to fit his Krogan bulk. It was just large enough to be recognized by the Maledictas. It was just fast enough to engage the Maledictas. And it was just powerful enough to get off the ground when he was inside it.

He had no idea how she got to the Docking Bay without passing through C-Sec customs, but he'd be damned if he didn't join her eclectic group.

The plot demanded it.

-X-

 **Very nearly 5500 words for this chapter. It's a day later than I wanted, but I had to start looking for a job.**

 **Three people voted. Two said yes and one said no. No idea who it is, but thank you for being willing to help me out, as pointless as it is. Like I said, I need 250 a month for rent and internet at the very least, and I am _not_ going to ask you to put up 125 a piece. The in the first place is a weird subject for me.**

 **As for everyone reading this, I also need your vote even if you're not willing to do so. It gives me insight on how all of you feel about this. Three people is too small a sample to get a read on anything.**

 **But anyways, here's answers to last chapter's reviews.**

 **Dzerx – Wish granted. I wanted him to be a cross between Doc Brown's craziness and Optimus Prime's leadership ability, with a little bit of Aizen thrown in for mysteriousness. He was preoccupied this chapter, however, and finding that 'energy' surrounding Tali threw him for a loop. So you just saw the Optimus Prime part and a little of Aizen at the end.**

 **Myafroatemydog – Not sure how you came to that conclusion, but no. Jane and Garrus are pre-paired(lol), and I haven't even mentioned Liara until this chapter. Glad you liked it, though.**

 **Leaf Ranger – No problem. Glad you like it, but I couldn't let Saren get caught so easily. Sovereign still needs its pawn.**

 **DeathCrawler – Thanks for clearing that up.**

 **Meowy1986 – They were talking about him in past tense because everything happened in the past. He mostly hangs out with the Migranta Quarians , and all of his big things happened in the past. He's not dead, I assure you.**

 **Xyphrose – Here ya go. Glad you like the story.**

 **And here are the ever-rising stats as of 12:17 PM EST, 11/3/16.**

 **Views – 38,440(nearly 4k more in a week? That's insane. Glad you all like it so much)**

 **Reviews – 82(sorry for the confusion a few of you had. Not sure how I could fix it. Let me know how and I'll fix it)**

 **Follows/Faves – 480/373(I love posting a chapter then having my phone blow up with all the notifications about faves and follows, either to me or the story. Then they go and follow or fave another story. Usually Operation: Eden or Protecting River)**

 **Communities – 8(still, but I'm just surprised there's any. I don't use the things)**

 **Umm... Next chapter's Hart of Gold as soon as I find my DS. I'll post it by Sunday evening at the latest. Then it's back to this.**

 **But THEN! I'm posting another chapter of Protecting River! It's gotten so popular, I can't imagine leaving it for three weeks. So I'll do it like this:**

 **(1 is T'ZvY, 2 is PR, 3 is O:E, 4 is HoG)**

 **1,2,1,3,1,2,1,4,1,2,1,3... So every other weekend chapter will be Protecting River, while this will still post in the middle of the week.**

 **See you all next chapter!**

 **Ja Ne!**


	10. Interim - On the way to Feros

KrossoverXKing presents Chapter X of:

 **The Memoir of Tali'Zorah vas Yoko**

a crossover between _Mass Effect_ ****and _Naruto_

neither of which I own

-X-

"So this has the same technology as the Pro-" Ashley sighed at her near slip-up. "As the Geth, huh?"

"Yep," Tali nodded, braiding another flower necklace as she placed the ones she had used back in their place in the cockpit. They weren't dead yet, so Tali could keep replenishing them as many times as she wanted.

She and Ashley were hanging out by her ship, which was on the opposite side of the hangar as the Humans' APC. Ashley was examining the twin forward-mounted Spitifres, while Tali was doing her thing inside the cockpit.

After the shock from earlier had worn off, she realized she was very disappointed with the man she had idolized her entire life. It had been more of an interrogation than any meaningful conversation, and he had left with little more than a 'by your leave'.

But Ashley – who also was disheartened by meeting Admiral Zumaki – was a welcome distraction to her...less than whelmed mind.

"A few changes were made, of course," Tali continued, now half-hanging out the side of the fighter as she patted a small door behind the cockpit. "This is where most of the hardware is. Space is so cold, the projectiles would freeze before the could narrow out. So the barrels are longer and heated, to allow everything to needle before they even leave the muzzle."

It also reduced muzzle flash, as such was usually caused by excess gas that hadn't cooled to liquid before it left the barrel. Instead, it was all forced to merge with the rest, making the needles fired out of the _Kunai_ -class fighter slightly larger than the ones from a normal Spitfire.

"And how old is this ship?" Ashley asked in disbelief. Such technology was beyond any race currently, but she kind of understood why Admiral Zumaki didn't give it to everyone. The more people you gave it to, the more chance the _wrong_ person would get it. If every URSC Marine had one, for example, then any skirmish they had with the Terminus Systems had a very real chance of giving that technology to space pirates that would use it on future raids.

When the Reapers came, it was likely he would give it to the militaries, but until then, they had to make do with what they had.

"This one was actually in a museum," Tali explained. "It was the first Chakran ship built on Rannoch, as well as the first flown by a Quarian, so I'd have to guess it's almost 50 thousand years old. He built it before the Harvest to show us what we'd be creating when the Reapers left."

Ashley's eyes widened at that. While it was known Admiral Zumaki's ships, the _Yoko_ and _Jinchuuriki_ , were about two-hundred million years old, that was such a large number that she had no reference for it. On the other hand, 50 thousand years ago, the first Humans were just leaving Africa. It humbled her to know that Tali's race had survived a Harvest, even if it was because their Maledicta was shut down.

She suddenly jumped up, on her tip-toes as she stared into the cockpit. She grasped a flower, the same kind that was always the centerpiece of Tali's necklace, careful not to damage it. "What kind of flower is this?"

Tali glanced over as she settled into her meditation pose, intent on providing the chakra separator in the ship with enough chakra to produce the water and nutrients the flowers needed to survive. "A chrysanthemum," she said, putting a thin petal between her fingers. "It was a Chakran plant that can utilize your chakra to change its pigmentation. Because of that, it can be every color that a Quarian's eyes can. My ancestor, the one Admiral Zumaki first met, was named after this flower."

Ashley glanced at the pale purple petals as she matched them up to the young Zorah's iris. It was a good match. "What about your hair?" she blurted out.

Tali blinked her amethyst orbs, a hand reaching up to grasp the silver-green strands with burgundy roots. "My hair? Well, you know how our name means 'People of the Flower', right?"

Ashley nodded, not surprising Tali. She wouldn't be surprised if the Unitoligist knew more about the Quarian race than she did.

"Well, the Zorah Clan were more 'People of the Plants'. Sure, there were more than a few flower carriers, but there were just as many of us that wielded ferns and mushrooms and the like," she explained. "Chrysa'Zorah was one of the flower-wielders, of course, while my ancestry is more linked to the Zorahs that carried the Painted Fern."

Ashley gave a hum of understanding as she tilted her head, pondering the Last Zorah. If she had to guess, Tali was no more than twenty, and that was pushing it. But the young woman seemed to internalize her feelings too much.

Her idol, the man she had – more than likely – killed for, the man she had dedicated her life to...practically brushed her off after interrogating her. Ashley kinda-sorta understood why he didn't talk to her too much: she was just a Unitologist. She held no delusions that that made her special in his eyes.

But Tali was a Zorah. A gorram _Zorah_! And Ashley was sure Tali would have felt better if he had ignored her instead of doing what he actually did to her.

If she were Tali, she'd be raging up and down the ship and demanding they plot a course for the Migranta Fleet ASAP to give Admiral Zumaki a piece of her mind.

Instead, the Last Zorah was calmly gardening in her fighter jet, as weird as that sounded.

"Alright, what's wrong?" Ashley asked, as tactlessly as she was used to speaking to her younger siblings.

Tali's head whipped up, staring at the brunette as if she had grown another head. "Wha- How'd y- There's noth- I-I don't know what you're talking about," she settled on after all that stammering.

Ashley hopped up, putting her whole weight on the canard. She knew it was fine. The Sho-Kunai-class fighter was practically a space tank when it came to how sturdy it was, despite being labeled as having lower defense than the larger Dai-Kunai-class. The wings were stubby but almost as long as the ship. The engine was a yin-yang drive, as was common with small Quarian ships. The ship itself hovered about a foot off the ground due to gravity-defiant seals, eliminating the need for landing gear.

The whole thing was about fifteen feet long, making it very hard to hit in the vastness of space. It had virtually no heat signature, as well, that byproduct being internalized to provide the pilot warmth, though it was mostly used to ignite the chakra mixture that caused the heat in the first place.

"Yeah... I don't believe you," Ashley deadpanned to Tali's stuttered denial. "You're not even a little upset about Admiral Zumaki questioning you and then just leaving like that?"

Tali couldn't tell Ashley the truth. She couldn't say that she was as frustrated with him as much as she was aroused by his mere presence. She needed to figure out that part of herself _by herself_. It was a dichotomy if ever there was one.

So she settled on a half-truth that didn't really answer the question. "I'm sure Admiral Zumaki has better things to do than sit and chat with every Quarian that asks."

"You'd be surprised," came Nihlus' distinctive voice when Ashley opened her mouth to retort. "He actually has a Liveship just for that purpose filled with _Kage_ _Bunshin_ seals. You use your chakra to activate it, and one of his clones pops out ready to listen to you or talk to you. That's really the only reason the Migranta Fleet stops here: so other races can take advantage of it. It's not like the Asari allow members of the Fleet to step on the Citadael."

"You know a lot about that," Ashley said, leading the SpecTRe on.

"Every SpecTRe is an honorary member of the Migranta Fleet, regardless of race," Nihlus explained with an equally flat expression and voice. "Among other amenities, they offer us protection through the Terminus Systems and use of the X-9 if the mission is time-sensitive and not morally ambiguous."

"X-9?" Tali questioned.

"Admiral Zumaki's flagship, the _Yoko_ ," Ashley explained for the younger girl. "It's a giant Maledicta housed inside a just-as-big Liveship. It's nine times larger than a normal Maledicta, which is why it's called the X-9 Maledicta."

Nihlus nodded along with the explanation. "It also allows near-instantaneous connection to any Maledicta in the galaxy, which is of use to us who work in the shadows."

"I can understand that," Tali said, remembering her time on Rannoch. To be able to teleport to anywhere on the planet in the blink of an eye would be a boon for any shinobi, even those who just played shinobi, like SpecTRes.

A loud thunk reverberated throughout the hangar as the loading elevator made its way to the bottom of the ship. It was Jane and Garrus who stepped out, and they immediately spotted the two youngest crew members.

"Sweet ship," Jane complimented as the couple walked up. "Is it made of chakra metal?"

"Uzushionium?" Tali asked, unsure what ' _chakra_ _metal_ ' was.

"Yep," Garrus supplied. "Chakra metal's what everyone calls it when they don't want to say the whole thing."

Tali mulled that tidbit over in her mind as she affirmed Jane's guess. Uzushionium was a big word to be saying when you had to keep saying it every time you were talking about a Chakran creation.

"Do you want to see the engine room?"

And that was enough to break her out of her musing as she exited the ship with a single fluid movement.

"Lead the way," she told Jane, who was happy to oblige.

-X-

Artemis Tau Cluster – Knossos System – Therum – Prothean Ruins

-X-

" _Kuso_ ," Liara cursed, slipping into ancient Chakran as she activated a Prothean barrier curtain, the Protectors' phasic rounds shattering upon impact with the hardened eezo defense.

"Baka Yarou!" she shouted, cursing their ironic name and that fact that they were even _here_. When they had arrived on Therum, there had been some initial confusion as to why they were in the Artemis Tau Cluster in the first place. After all, the Protectors hadn't left Rannoch for over 40,000 years.

Add to that was the fact that there was documented proof that the Protectors had never left the original Maledicta path that the Chakrans had created during the first Harvest, which meant they should have stopped at the Hades Gamma Cluster.

There was even more confusion for the dig team when the Protectors had completely ignored everyone there, and had spread out across the expansive underground ruins.

All that confusion turned to fear when the Protectors raised their Spitfires and began targeting everyone indiscriminately, though those indiscriminate shots never failed to hit their target.

The only reason Liara was still alive was because she had been studying the central elevator when the Protectors came, and had waved off going down to admire them.

Her work ethic had saved her life, due to the fact that she was far enough back to use a biotic-enhanced jump and avoid the searching gazes of the killing machines, their barrels still spinning with grey smoke wafting out the heated muzzles.

Her mad dash to her previous area of study led Liara short of both breath and patience. This far down, there was no chance of her civilian-grade omni-tool getting a signal out of the ruins, even if there was anyone outside to receive her, which she highly doubted.

There was no way the Protectors had entered the caves without an entourage of fans...unless those fans were already dead.

" _Baka_ ," she muttered, both at herself and the Protectors. "Baka, baka, baka..."

Had the Asari on Thessia been right? Had the Protectors and Quarians, not to mention Admiral Naru'Zumaki vas Yoko, simply been biding their time?

-X-

Serpent Nebula – Widow – Citadael

-X-

The small ship began at a position a few kilometers further than last time. In fact, it would now take less time to turn the ship around, fly to the Citadael, go through customs, and land near his favorite noodle shop than make yet another pass at the Maledicta.

There was a fine line he had to thread when accelerating. Too quickly and the engines would simply sputter out instead of trying to go that fast that quickly. Too slowly and it didn't see the point in trying and wouldn't even try to to go, assuming he could just get out and push if he was trying to go that slowly.

Problem was, the artificially intelligent venn diagram the Protectors created was ever-changing, much like their personalities.

"Push it! Push it real good!"

"Harder! Better! Faster! Stronger!"

"Nah... Slow down, brah..."

Those were the more... _dichotomous_ personalities, but it was driving him insane listening to them.

In fact, it was driving him so insane, that he didn't hear the hail from a Turian crusier. The one who spoke seemed to be holding in laughter. " _Sho-Kunai-class Fighter registered to Urdnot Wrex... Do you require assistance activating the Maledicta?_ "

It's too bad, because he wasn't that far behind the _Normandy_ at the time. If he had heard, he would have caught up to the crew while they were on Feros.

Alas, he didn't. He was arguing with the Protectors that called the hard drive of his dilapidated, outdated ship home.

"You listen here you pieces of _Varren_ _shit_. If you don't shut up and let me do what I need to do to get out of here and meet up with Shepard, I'll plot a course to the nearest quasar and see how close you need to be to it to finally shut up!"

This time, the Protectors were quiet enough for Wrex to hear the Turians' response. And this time, there was no supressed laughter in his tone.

Even had they still been speaking, the fact that a Turian Cruiser was now positioned between his ship and the Maledicta and he was being flanked by Turian _Talon-class_ fighters was an unmistakable one.

"' _Fraid not,_ _Urdnot. If you wouldn't mind following our fighter escort back to the Citadael, you'll find C-Sec has a few questions for you._ "

Wrex complied since he didn't really have much choice in the matter. The thirteenth time was supposed to be unlucky anyways, so in a roundabout way, he guessed he should thank the Turians on that ship.

"Yeah, yeah... Make me show up later, why don't you. Not like anyone's waiting for me to join, is there?"

He wasn't going to thank them, of course. He was just...not going to be as pissed at them as he should be.

-X-

 **Woops. Sorry about the wait. Internet got cut off so I had to sell my pre-ordered copy of Pokemon: Moon before it even came out. Gives me another month at least until it happens again. Then the power got cut off, so I had to do a bunch of jobs to pay that to even use the wifi I had just paid for, since my mom doesn't get paid till next week. Poll's still a 4/4 dead heat, so it looks like that's not happening. Job prospects aren't too hot, either. I had an interview with Pelican Snoballs after I posted my last chapter and then they shut down for the season. So I'm not entirely sure why they even talked to me... I've been doing odd jobs for family members, but they don't really pay me that much. Eg: I house-sat for my grandparents for a week while they went to the Bahamas and I got $40. That included yard work, general chores, and taking care of their dogs.**

 **Japanese translations:**

 **Kuso – Shit**

 **Baka Yarou – Idiot Asshole**

 **Liara's a potty mouth when she speaks Japanese. For future reference, if she's speaking Japanese, it's either an insult or a bad word...or both.**

 **Next chapter is Protecting River, like I said. Since the isn't happening, I'm not going to keep posting twice a week, more like once every two weeks. You saw I could, and that's enough for me.**

 **This chapter's only half length, yeah, but at the same time most of the time I didn't have internet or power, and it's more of a filler between the Citadael and Feros. FYI, the missions will be done as such: Feros, Therum, Noveria, so Liara will get help soon. Next chapter will be back to 5-6k words, though.**

 **Ja Ne!**


End file.
